


The Heroes, The Child, and The Gas-mask

by Raggamaninof



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2014-03-29
Packaged: 2017-12-29 16:46:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 52,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raggamaninof/pseuds/Raggamaninof
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Young Avengers are no longer young, and they are now heroes in charge of the Avengers HQ and a new formed Mutan Army. X-Men and Avengers are on better terms than before and Teddy is now Captain Marvel, Billy is Sorcerer Supreme, and is seems like life could not be better. But there is still a disclosed desire that sits within the heart of the Sorcerer Supreme... One that he believes he will never satisfy. But perhaps a man in a gas-mask could change that and give William what he truly wants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Heroes

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cris-Art E](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/29257) by Cris-Art. 



He could hear it so clearly. The soft and innocent sound of a young voice; it sounded so far away, yet so close and tangible. Everything around him was strange; it was like he was under a warm and moist blanket that covered him completely. It was pinkish red and every time he moved it was like he was swimming in water. The feeling the voice invoked in him was so tender and frail he was almost afraid to move, afraid to break the moment and shatter it like fine crystal. The small crying filled his ears, his heart beginning to pound as he tried to find the source of that white voice, of that small and gentle voice that felt omnipresent. He wanted to find it, to reassure it, to hold the creature that cried in his arms and soothe it into silence; he wanted to find the child. He wanted a child. No, he wanted a baby. At this thought the voice was suddenly gone and everything was dark. He felt himself suffocating; the warmth around him was suddenly gone and a sharp coolness replaced it. He squirmed and twisted and turned and with a last breath he screamed as hard as he possibly could.

“BILLY!” the voice shattered his pain in an instant. Suddenly, everything was still. All he could see was the familiar wall of his room. It was dark and everything was a different shade of grey and dark blue. He could feel his chest heaving up and down as he tried to catch his breath; cold beads of sweat slipping down his shivering body one by one, leaving small silvery trails on his cold skin. 

“Billy,” the voice was closer now, right beside his ear. Billy closed his eyes as he tried to gain control over his body again; he felt as his husband’s strong hand was carefully placed on his side and slowly began running up and down his rib-cage. “What happened? Are you alright?” Teddy’s voice was so soothing; Billy felt his body relax and give into the softness of his voice. He felt the bed shift and a strong chest press against his back as the previous mentioned hand slid down to his stomach and embraced him. Billy took a deep breath and managed to turn around to face the man he loved.

“Yeah, I just,” he began, his voice weak. “I just had a bad dream,” he said softly. Teddy’s sky blue eyes looked down into his own and he felt his stomach clench. 

“What did you dream about?” he asked softly. Billy sighed as he pressed his damp cheek against the crook of Teddy’s neck,

“I… I don’t know if I want to talk about it,” he replied. Teddy was silent for a bit and just as Billy was starting to drift into sleep he spoke,

“Was it about us having… kids?” he asked carefully. Billy’s eyes shot open. This had become a delicate topic for them; they had sat down and spoken about it a few times but it never really went anywhere.

“We can’t adopt; mutant kids are taken to the Xavier School and powered couples can’t adopt human kids. If we try to adopt a different alien race then that particular race will probably come after us with a law suit or a fleet of warriors. Nobody wants us to adopt a baby and earth is afraid of bringing another Wanda or William Maximoff to the planet. They also don’t want to cause any more problems between the Kree and Skrull by bringing a little Theodore Altman into the world, so they won’t let us make a child through a Petri dish. So basically there is no utter way we are ever going to have kids!” William was raising his voice by now and Teddy could see how he was trying hard to keep his powers under control. Few things made the Supreme Sorcerer lose his cool but this subject had become something very sensitive for the brunette. Teddy sighed as he held Billy close,

“I know, and it hurts me too Billy. I wish we could have kids, I wish we were allowed to but it’s just how things are. And we have to live with it until we find another option,” Teddy’s words soothed Billy once more, but there was an underlying pain to them that even the warlock could hear.

“I know,” Billy murmured. Teddy lifted Billy’s chin with his fingers and placed a soft and tender kiss on his lips. Billy sighed as he reached up and curled his fingers into Teddy’s hair, pulling him closer. Billy pushed Teddy’s shoulder slight; Teddy followed and rolled onto his back as his husband climbed on top of him, their lips never breaking contact.

“Billy… we… have a… mission… tomorrow,” Teddy said between kisses, yet his right hand caressing his husband’s cheek and his left hand searching under his night shirt proved he really had no intentions to stop.

“I know that, too,” he said as he broke the kiss for just an instant before diving in again and claiming those beautiful pink lips he knew so well. They didn’t care if they had a mission; right now was a moment that was theirs and theirs alone. Nobody could interrupt them in the privacy of their room, their house, their lives. Teddy just hoped that perhaps this is what Billy needed, and that tomorrow things would be better for his one and only love.

…

“Alright ladies, I hope you all brought warm clothes because the weather in Antarctica will be ruthless today. Phase one of the plan: we will surround the facility and attack through the back doors. This will cause panic and mayhem, which will direct them towards the main entrances, which will be locked, and as soon as that happens we initiate Phase two. We send the signal and burst through a weak point in the building; they won’t see it coming. Well, not really weak, it’s more of a “not as heavily armed and defended” point but still, it works.” Hawkeye was running through the plan once more, making sure everybody knew exactly what to do and when. Billy, as Supreme Sorcerer, was in charge of diversion of the enemy as well as helping Hawkeye command the troops in the battlefield. Teddy, as Captain Marvel, was in charge of leading the men into battle and following instructions. Billy stood next to his husband as Kate rambled on about what to do,

“Have you seen Tommy yet?” he asked, Teddy shook his head,

“He’s probably late, as always,” he stated with a smile. They were giggling to themselves before there was a sudden gust of wind and Tommy was suddenly next to Kate.

“Speak of the devil,” Teddy said. 

“Alriiiiiiiiiiight, we’ve been over this thing like, what, a trillion times? I think these people are smart enough to get it right, ok Kate? How about we get on with actually infiltrating this place?” Tommy said with a nonchalant smile on his face. Kate just about growled at him,

“You’re lucky I was done talking,” she hissed at him, “Alright, everyone to positions, we leave in fifteen minutes.” She stated as she turned the electronic map off and marched to her station. The mutant population had risen throughout the last decade and more and more gifted kids graduated without really knowing what to do after going to school. Many of them were too inexperienced to function as single heroes or even in groups. In the end, the Avengers managed to put together a Mutant army, but one that would help humanity, not go against it. It wasn’t a huge army, but it was large nonetheless and very useful for complex missions. All the divisions started moving towards their designated areas and prepared to be teletransported to the indicated location. Billy and Teddy shared a last kiss and “good luck” wish before they headed their own ways. Of course they always worried about each other but after years of fighting together, they trusted their abilities to stay safe and win. The universal countdown began in through the loud speakers. All men stood prepared and in place, all the commanders in their positions and everyone prepared to take the target down with as little casualties as possible. 

“5…” the electronic voice began. There was utter silence with exception of the monotonous count down.

“4…” Billy ran his thumb over the ring which Teddy had given him that magical night they decided to get married. He closed his eyes and felt every corner and detail of the finely made accessory.

“3…” Kate ran her hands over her arrows one more time, making sure there were enough for the tenth time that day. She couldn’t let anything go wrong; she would not be responsible for the death of anyone.

“2…” Teddy took a deep breath and raised his hand to place a quick kiss on the ring Billy had given him for the day of their wedding; a day that would be unforgettable to him for the rest of his life.

“1…” Tommy scratched his head, checked the time, groaned at how slow the second was going by, pulled his wedgie out of his butt that his spandex was causing, coughed into the inside of his elbow, crossed his arms, picked his nose, and finally groaned again,  
“Ohforcryingoutloudjusttranportusalread…” Tommy began saying but he was cut short by the loud and echoing sound of the speakers.  
“Transporting...” With a flash of green light, the once crowded Avengers HQ was now empty. 

…

The infiltration went incredibly well. There were no casualties what so ever, even though they had to destroy various robots and also sedate various people, there were few wounded and the cases weren’t too severe. Tommy’s and Teddy’s divisions continued through the building parallel to each other to make sure none of the scientists and guards escaped, meanwhile Kate’s and Billy’s divisions helped release the prisoners and move them towards the surface. There they would wait until everyone was ready and Billy would zap them out of there to a safer area. It was a perfectly calculated plan, and nothing could go wrong. They were reaching the bottom of the facility where the last chamber with prisoners was. As soon as Teddy and Tommy burst through the doors leading there, they froze, their divisions stopping behind them.

“What the…” Tommy began. Teddy felt his heart almost stop and he realized where they were. They were in an infirmary. Many small incubators filled a light pink room, all of them with small sleeping creatures in them. If Teddy had been in his human form, me might have gone completely pale. “Kids?” Tommy asked in disbelief,

“Babies,” a voice answered them. Everybody turned to look at the end of the room where a man dressed in black stood. His face and hands covered in thick rubber and a gas mask. Even from where they stood and even with the mask on, Teddy could feel the man smiling. “Quite young ones, not even three months old.” He stated, walking slowly towards them. The mutants behind the two men slowly raised their guns but Teddy lifted his hand,

“Don’t even think about pointing a gun into this room,” he growled. They lowered their weapons with reluctance but kept an aggressive pose. The man continued to walk,

“I must say, I am impressed. Well, sadder than anything, really. You did just burst into my research lab and destroy my over twenty-year old project, but on the other hand you did it so well! All prisoners safe, no casualties on any side, whoever planned this must be a genius, really,” he said, his voice muffled by the thick material covering his face.

“Believe me; we have the best of the best where we come from.” Tommy said with a snicker. The man stopped where he was and looked at Thomas intently,

“The thing is I hate perfection, I hate how hard it is to achieve and you know what? If I couldn’t achieve it with my experiments, then you won’t achieve it either in this mission! So I suggest you all get out of here and give me back my prisoners and co-workers.” He stated; his voice was happy and calm, ironically clashing with his previous words.

“What if we don’t want to,” Teddy answered in a soft tone. The man shrugged and looked around at the young children sleeping around him,

“I guess I’ll just gas the kids,” he said nonchalantly. Teddy felt his stomach constrict at those words and Tommy tensed as his balled his fists. The man in black pulled out a small ivory colored ball from his pitch black jacket. 

“I mean, do you really want to be the reason these young children lose their lives?” The man asked simply, “In this little creation of mine there is hydrogen sulfide ready to burst out into this great room, millions of particles that will infest everyone but me. Particles that will be inhaled by everyone else and close down the respiratory system. It will be a quick and painless death, but a death in the end.” He said as he analyzed each corner of the small sphere. Teddy could feel the anger building up inside of himself, he was already looking at Thomas through the corner of his eye, and the guy looked like he was ready to strangle Mr. Mask right there and then. 

“Alright then, it all depends on the pressing of this button. What will it be then? Do I get my work back? Or does everyone die?” he asked. He held the sphere in front of him, his thumb placed lightly on the button that would release the gas into the air. Suddenly there was a strong gust of wind in the room and everything was silent. Teddy was startled for a moment before he noticed Tommy wasn’t there anymore. Secondly, he noticed the sphere was no longer in the hands of the masked man. There was a strange and heavy silence,

“Oh…” he said suddenly, analyzing his now empty hand. “Well, I didn’t really count on that, did I?”

“You bet you didn’t, bastard,” Teddy hissed as he lunged forward, claws ready to capture the sickening man in front of him. But before he could lay a single finger on him, he collapsed into the floor. Teddy managed to keep his balance and not tip over any of the surrounding incubators with how fast he was going, but as soon as he turned around all he found was the suit of the man lying on the floor, just a shell, like the skin of a snake. He cursed under his breath before Tommy was suddenly next to him,

“Yeah so I made my brother turn the weird gas into fairy dust but he didn’t seem too happy about the idea that there’s a bunch of little babies down here so he said he’s coming here to help us get them out.” Tommy said quickly. Teddy sighed; he knew this would happen if Billy found out. Soon enough Billy flashed into the room,

“Tommy, go back and lead my division out of here, somebody started releasing flammable gas and this place could go up any second. I need them safe, Teddy, you get everyone else out.” He announced. Teddy wanted to refuse, how did Billy think he would get all the babies out on his own? But a single look into those dark brown eyes and he couldn’t refuse,

“Take care,” he whispered as everyone began to leave the room, he placed his large green hand on the side of the Sorcerer Supreme’s face,

“You too,” he answered. Teddy pressed his lips to Billy’s for an instant before he ran out of the room to catch up with the two divisions he was now in charge of.

“Alright, we take an exit through the back and get out as fast as we can!” Teddy called. The divisions understood and began marching up steps as fast as they could. Teddy could smell the strong odor in the air and fear began to cloud his mind. They were still two levels down but they would make it out, they had to. Teddy took a last minute decision,

“Anybody with powers that can make us go faster or get more of us out of here use them now! Protocol is annulated temporarily for emergency reasons!” He yelled. At his order, many of the mutants began shifting inside their uniforms and a few began to rip out of them. Many of them growing tails and wings and a few others picking up their slower teammates and flying up the stair cases. This would definitely win them time. The mutants scrambled up and Teddy picked up two that were falling behind. The door was within sight but Teddy only ran faster, his heart at his throat as one of the mutants that was ahead burst through it with some kind of force camp. They all burst out of the building and soon heard voices screaming in their direction,

“Get away from that nuke now!” Kate was yelling from about a block away, she was already placing the coordinates into the devise that would transport them back to the HQ. Both divisions ran towards the other two to make sure they were in a distance the transporter could cover. 

“Where is Billy?” Teddy yelled as soon as he reached them, the mutants around him panting and wheezing in the cold winter air. Kate whirled around and faced him, fear clear in her eyes,

“He’s not with you?” she asked in an almost aggressive manner. Teddy shook his head,

“No, he said he would bring the kids here! We found a room full of them and I just left him there and… Oh my GOD I JUST LEFT HIM THERE!” Teddy was entering full panic mode now. What if the masked man came back and Billy was left to fight him? What had he done? How had he been so stupid? 

“Captain keep it together dammit!” Kate yelled as she placed her hands on his shoulders, “He’ll be fine! He’s the friggin Sorcerer Supreme! And you are Captain Marvel; you HAVE to keep it together! We have to transport back now!” Teddy’s mind was racing but he knew Kate was right, they weren’t kids anymore and he had to keep it together. With that he nodded and Kate pressed the button. A bright green light flashed and suddenly they were back in the HQ. The divisions rested as Kate and a few other soldiers ran to the monitors and an image of facility appeared on the screen. The gas levels were dangerously high and the whole place was at the edge of collapse.

“Jeez, these guys were ready to win or die,” Kate sighed. Teddy looked around and didn’t see Billy, his stomach twisted,

“Oh God,” he whispered. “Where is he?” Suddenly, as if to answer his question, there was a flash of blue light and Billy was there, surrounded by at least two dozens of small babies, most of them crying, of course. Teddy was so relieved he might cry, he ran over to his husband and tried to embrace him only to feel him slip out of his reach.

“Billy?” Teddy asked, confused. Billy looked up at him with the most terrified look Teddy had ever seen, “What is it?” he demanded, but Billy didn’t listen, instead he turned towards the children and began counting them quickly. “Billy?” He tried again, but the Sorcerer Supreme was in his own world. Suddenly he froze, looking at his own hands as he made the math in his head,

“I knew it,” he whispered,

“What!” Teddy yelled; he couldn’t take not knowing what made Billy so upset. William turned around and stared him straight in the eye,

“I left one behind,” he almost breathed. And with that there was another flash of light and he was gone. 

“Billy no!” Teddy yelled,

“Get him out!” Kate screamed as she looked at the screen. Tommy who was watching from the side stood up,

“Shit, that idiot, I’ll go, just wait…” but he couldn’t finish before the building in the screen exploded. The whole facility was swallowed in flames quicker that Kate had seen anything else explode in her life. The whole thing, walls and everything, incinerated into nothing but ashes in less than a second as the terrified Avengers stared.

“NO!” Teddy yelled; he felt as his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach and something caught in his throat. He couldn’t believe it, Billy was still in there. Billy, his husband, his only love, the only thing he had left in the world, and he had just watched him burn to crisp, just like his mother. His brain tuned everything out, from Kate’s desperate cries to the mutants gasping in horror to Tommy’s curses and the gust of wind he made as he left to find his brother. This was not happening, this was a dream, he would wake up and Billy would be there next to him. His dark hair falling over his thin face carefully and blending with his beard on the sides, framing his gorgeous eyes in a way he didn’t even know could be possible. He would wake up and ask him how he slept; Teddy would answer fine because he always slept amazingly when he was with Billy. But that man, the man he loved so much, he was… he was…

Teddy couldn’t bring himself to think about it. He choked in a sob and got to his feet quickly.

“No, we have to go look for him! He’s probably under all that rubble!” Teddy yelled as he began walking towards the door,

“Teddy please, there is no rubble! You saw that place go up in flames!” Kate yelled from where she stood, tears running down her cheeks yet her face as harsh as always. Teddy stopped and stared down at his feet, there was a tense silence as everyone’s eyes were on him.

“I can’t let him go without trying first,” he said sternly as he began to move towards the door once more. Just as he placed his hand on the door knob there was a large gust of wind and suddenly Tommy was back with something, rather someone, on his shoulder. 

“Get him medical help now!” Tommy yelled as he placed a severely wounded Billy on the ground of the HQ. Teddy froze as he saw the figure dressed in blue and red and black lying on his side, his back facing the Captain, his body was still but you could see how his sides shifted as he breathed. Teddy let out a sob.

“Oh God, Billy!” He yelled as he ran towards the Sorcerer. He landed on his knees next to him just as paramedics filed into the room; he shifted to his human form and took his husband’s left hand in his, “You’re alive!” he almost sobbed. Just as one of the paramedics was about to reach for Billy, he spoke,

“No!” he croaked. Tommy rolled his eyes,

“What are you talking about? You’re really wounded and you probably don’t have the energy to magic yourself back to normal…!”

“Take her first,” he said as he interrupted his brother. Teddy looked up at Billy with a confused expression, but before he could say anything his husband turned onto his back. There was a small bundle in his right hand that he had been holding the whole time. Billy made an effort to carefully lift the bundle and give it to the paramedics who received it carefully. The doctor seemed confused at first but carefully unfolded one of the sides of the bundle until a small face was revealed. Teddy gasped softly as he realized what a small creature was in that tiny mass of cloth. He saw that the little baby had her eyes wide open in fear yet she lay quiet and in place, not moving, if only to breathe. Her face was incredibly pale, almost paper white, and her huge brown eyes were the color of honey. Small strands dark brown hair were beginning to form on her small head and her eyelashes were long and dark. Red tainted her cheeks and her small nose sat elegantly above her tiny mouth that was a lighter tone of pink. Teddy had not seen such a beautiful baby in his whole life, if baby photos of Billy were beyond adorable, then he didn’t know how to express how lovely this baby was. The paramedic got up carefully and left the room with the small creature in his arms as the others surrounded Billy and lifted him onto a medical bed. Teddy held his hand the whole time,

“I got her, I knew I had forgotten one,” Billy said with a small smile, even though there was blood running down his head and his eyes were swollen, Teddy couldn’t imagine his husband looking more beautiful.

“Yeah, and you saved her,” Teddy whispered as he kissed his husband’s hand. Billy smiled and closed his eyes as the medics took him away. Teddy knew better than to follow and let them leave, the fact that his love was here and alive was more than enough to make him happy.


	2. The Kids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy wakes up to a surprise that may be good, and may be bad.

Billy woke up various days later, completely healed. Teddy had stayed every single night and day in his room until his husband opened his deep brown eyes. The blonde walked over and kneeled down to the bed, one of his hands carefully tracing William’s jaw line.

“Hey,” Billy said softly, his voice rested and full. Teddy smiled at that,

“Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked in a sweet voice. Everyone knew Captain Marvel to be a strong yet generous man, a man who could bend steel at his will and command great armies. Yet with those same hands he was able to caress and touch his husband with care and gentleness. 

“I’m good, I’m feeling rested and calm and…” Billy paused for a moment, his eyes suddenly distant, as if remembering something. He suddenly turned to look at Teddy with his full attention,

“What happened to the kids?” he asked; his voice with an edge of worry. Teddy sighed, he knew Billy would ask eventually but he didn’t know it would be so soon.

“They’re fine; you rescued a total of twenty five babies, most of them aliens, and brought them here safely. We have taken care of them and they are safe and well.” He answered in a matter-of-factually tone. Billy sighed and relaxed, 

“I’m so glad,” he answered. Billy looked up to the ceiling, his brain thinking thoroughly as Teddy rubbed circles on the brunette’s hands with his own thumb. The room where they were was inside the HQ and it was commonly used for people that were in recovery. It was a nice light yellow and the furniture was scattered around, providing places for people to sit but still leaving enough space for doctors to walk in and out. Billy noticed a small vase with flowers next to him,

“You got me those?” he asked Teddy. His husband nodded silently and Billy chuckled, raising his hand to place a warm kiss on it. “Thank you,” he added.

“Anything for you,” Teddy whispered as he leaned forward and kissed Billy’s forehead lightly. Billy smiled as Teddy leaned back into a resting position and waited a bit more before speaking again.

“So do all these kids have… parents?” Billy asked in a quiet tone. Teddy sighed,

“Well, no, but we’ve been using a different method in getting them places to stay.” Teddy said. Billy paid close attention, hiding his feeling of disappointment incredibly well. Teddy continued, “First we took DNA samples and found what specific aliens they were. From there we tracked down their species, contacted them, and they have so far all come down to pick up the different babies. Apparently these babies are gifted in a way or another so the aliens say they will find foster families rather quickly.” Billy nodded once in a while to show his interest in the conversation, “We found a Kree and Skrull and even a cyber-alien baby! There were so many, thankfully they were peaceful species and they didn’t try to eat our faces out when we gave them back. Well, some did but there were no casualties.” He said with a chuckle. Billy smiled at this,

“That’s good,” he stated softly. There was underlying sadness in his voice and Teddy could hear it clearly. Billy understood there was no way it would work but even so he hoped, because there was nothing else he could do. Teddy sighed as he saw his lover’s calm yet upset face.

“Have all of them left?” Billy asked quietly. Teddy shook his head,

“No, we still have seven left, all of them are mutants except for three, and two of those are scheduled to be picked up tomorrow.” Teddy said. Billy nodded, a small smile lifting at the sides of his mouth.

“Do you think they need help babysitting?” Billy asked. Teddy laughed,

“I thought you’d never ask,” he answered. With that Billy’s face lit up like a light bulb.

…

“Oh thank God!” Kate yelled as Billy entered the room that looked like a wild kinder garden. Kate was holding two crying babies, followed by Tommy who held two more wailing little creatures. There were two more inside that also seemed to be in the same state and Billy couldn’t find the last and 7th one. Kate pushed a baby into Teddy’s arms and then Billy’s, who received it with a big smile.

“Alright, now that they gave you help you need to help me out too!” Tommy hissed as he gave Kate his two babies and walked into the room to attend the other ones.

“I have to pick up the other one that’s crying,” Kate sighed as she ran back into the room.

“Jeez, this is a nightmare, why can’t I just fight Doombots or something?” Tommy sighed as he picked one particular one out of its crib. His snow white hair was longer now; a bit more similar to his uncle’s but it still had that shape that could only belong to Tommy Shepherd himself. He didn’t get a beard like Billy but you could tell both twins still looked exactly the same even with those differences,

“I think they’re adorable,” Billy said softly, he had raised the green skinned baby so his head was on Billy’s shoulder and began rocking him slightly, within a minute the baby was silent.

“Your like a damn momma bear,” Tommy sighed,

“No cursing in front of kids!” Billy scolded. Teddy had to snicker; he hadn’t seen Billy so happy in a long time. They walked further into the room where Kate had put down the other two and was holding a different baby and also calming it down. Once Billy and Teddy came in the stressed aura of crying babies seemed to die out.

“So you said three were aliens, what are the other four?” Billy asked curiously, his hand on the back of the baby’s head as he rocked him in his arms. 

“Mutants, the X-Men will arrive in a few hours to take them in.” Kate stated. Billy nodded,

“Alright, well, after that it will only be three so you guys can relax some. Teddy and I can handle if from there,” he said with a smile. Kate smiled,

“I don’t think you understand what that means to me,” Kate laughed,

“Or ME, if anyone cares,” Tommy interrupted, “Also Billy, I’m surprised you haven’t asked about the one you saved last,” he added. Billy took a moment before the memory came back and his eyes widened.

“You’re right!” he exclaimed, “Is she still around?”

“Right here,” Tommy answered as he turned his body to show everyone the small girl in his arms, her large brown eyes looked around at the somewhat familiar faces before locking her gaze with Billy. “She doesn’t cry or do anything really but she seems to pay attention to stuff, I like her.” He finished. Billy stared back at the small baby, her fingers were in her mouth and she seemed to never stay still but even so her eyes were locked on his.

“Is she a mutant?” Billy asked, 

“Actually she’s an alien but…” Kate took a moment to consider what she was about to say. But the moment she looked at Billy and saw how calm he seemed with the little green alien in his arms she couldn’t stop herself, “She’s unidentified.” She stated. Billy’s eyebrows furrowed together,

“Unidentified? What does that mean? Are her DNA tests faulty?” he asked. Kate shook her head,

“No, we just can’t seem to find her species in our archives.” She answered. This took everyone in the room by surprise,

“Whoa, so she’s like from a dead species or something? Or like one that doesn’t exist yet?” Tommy asked as he looked down at the little girl in his arms. The child finally looked away from Billy and looked up at Tommy, “Are you some kind of like super weird species inbreed liked Teddy that’s gonna cause a galactic war one day between two empires?” he asked her as if she could understand him. Teddy had to laugh at the joke,

“But she looks human. How can she be so similar to us yet not be on our files.” Billy asked. 

“Well, she isn’t exactly like us,” Kate answered. 

“Yeah, I mean, look at what she has,” Tommy said as he changed the position he was holding the girl so everyone could see her from behind. There was a hole cut into her diapers where a small tail came out. Billy heard himself “aw” as he stepped forward to analyze the tiny tail that was swinging from side to side.

“It’s so tiny!”He exclaimed. Billy touched the tail lightly and the baby made a distressed sound,

“Hey, no funny business with the tail,” Tommy scolded before turning the baby so he could hold her in his arms again. Billy laughed,

“Wait, so what happens to her?” Theodore asked. Kate sighed,

“I guess we continue looking for her species, until then she stays with us,” Kate said. Billy whipped his head towards Kate, a smile starting to form on his face.

“She can stay?” he asked, “Isn’t that illegal or something?” 

“Not really, she’s a universal orphan, we found her so we keep her until further instructions.” Kate stated simply. “But we plan on taking her to the Galactic Council to decide. They might have information about where she is from.” Kate finished. Billy’s face fell at the last comment, but even so his energy was obvious to everyone around him.

“Alright, when is that?” Billy asked quickly. 

“Tomorrow when we go drop off the two other aliens,” Tommy answered. Billy sighed,

“I guess that means we stay here and wait until you guys come back right? And if she’s with you, she stays, and if not…”

“We found her a family elsewhere,” Kate finished. Teddy placed the baby he was soothing in one of the cribs carefully,

“Tommy, mind if I carry her?” he asked politely. Tommy gave him a smug look before holding her out Lion King Style,

“All yours,” he offered. Teddy carefully reached for the baby and placed his hands under her tiny arms, “Careful there, she might slip through those huge fingers of yours,” he warned. Teddy finally managed to get a steady grip as he raised the little baby and enveloped her in his arms.

“Well hi there, aren’t you a cutie,” Teddy told the baby. The baby was silent but stared back, her fingers still in her mouth. Billy felt his heart melt as he saw that scene unfold in front of him. He didn’t know what would happen tomorrow, but he sure as hell wanted that baby.


	3. The Orphan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What to do with a child with no parents, a child with no family, and a child with no home?

Teddy woke at 4 am the next morning with the feeling that something was off. The first thing he did was turn around and realize the empty spot next to him. His first reaction was to panic and call his husband’s name, but logic kicked in a moment later when he realized there was steam coming out of the bathroom and the sound of water running. Teddy sighed in relief. Living with the Sorcerer Supreme was not an easy task at times; Billy was capable of just disappearing at any moment if things got complicated or destroying half the living room in an argument just to put it back together with a few words after it was over. He was also utterly and impossibly unpredictable. Teddy rubbed his eyes and slipped out of the warmth of his bed to walk over to the bathroom. The chill of the morning nipped at his bare chest and arms but his night pants kept him somewhat warm at least from his hips down. The water in the bathroom stopped running.

“B, please tell me it’s you in there and not the result of Tommy not paying his water bill,” Teddy called into the steaming bathroom. When there was no answer Teddy let himself into the bathroom, the steam sticking to his dry and cold skin in small droplets. Teddy was able to see a familiar outline behind the shower glass,

“Billy?” he asked again. At this question the shadow on the shower glass jolted and a voice much like Billy’s let out a surprised cry, there was the sound of water splashing. “Billy!” Teddy yelled, he quickly pushed the shower door open and stepped inside. He stopped for a moment as he realized what he had walked into. Billy was lying inside the hot tub completely naked; his dark brown hair was wet and stuck to his face,

“You scared me,” he said with a chuckle. His beard sparkling slightly with droplets of water, it reminded him for a moment of morning dew. Teddy smiled,

“Just making sure it was you and not some stranger using our hot tub,” Teddy sighed. He walked over to the tub and stood over his husband. 

“Oh, that would be an issue,” Billy mocked. Teddy laughed and looked into the water where William’s body lay peacefully under the crystal water. Billy noticed and smiled,

“Mind to join me?” He asked. Teddy didn’t hesitate even for a second before hooking his thumbs on the waistband of his night pants and slipping them off. The warmth of the water was incredibly welcoming as he slid in his left foot and then his right, followed by his knees that landed on either side of Billy’s right leg and finally his torso that skimmed through the water until their chest’s met. Billy felt as Teddy’s sturdy and muscular arms wrapped around him and pulled him close, Teddy’s lips traveling up to meet his in a soft and tender kiss. 

“It never gets old, does it?” Teddy murmured as he released Billy’s lips,

“No, never does,” Billy answered as he leaned up catch his husband’s dry lips in yet another sweet kiss, their bodies melting together and their lips shifting and caressing each other as the water clung to their skins and kept them warm. What followed this was Teddy’s hand searching beneath the water across Billy’s fair skin. It went first to his stomach, then his hips, and then towards the pride of Billy’s body. The soft sigh that escaped Billy’s mouth as he was touched was tender and calm, yet it felt like it almost echoed through the entire house. The events that followed were memories that would belong to the two of them, and to nobody else.

…

As much as Teddy loved waking up to such a delightful event in the morning, he still had to ask Billy as soon as they got out of the shower about why he was up at such a time. Billy smiled and seemed to blush lightly.

“Today they take the baby to the Galactic Counsel. Unless you’ve forgotten, we are allowed to go watch the trial and I don’t want to miss this at all.” Billy said. He dressed into his Sorcerer Supreme outfit with a swift movement of his hands. Teddy had to admire how his husband looked in his blue uniform and his majestic red cape, but there was something else on his mind at the moment. He sighed,

“Billy, sit with me,” he said softly as he sat down at their bed. Billy turned around as he realized the concerned tone in his husband’s voice, when he saw his face he walked towards the bed and sat down. 

“What is it?” he asked, placing his hand on Teddy’s. 

“Listen, I know how much you want us to keep the baby.” Teddy began, Billy had a feeling he knew where this was headed, “And you have no idea how much I want her too, I have been waiting for a long time to be a father and this child seems like the perfect baby to have. But…” Teddy paused for a moment, looking down at their hands before looking up and locking eyes with Billy, “You need to understand that the chances of us getting her are tiny! Almost impossible! The universe is infinite and who knows if those people can find her species or perhaps a species related to her. If they can’t find her they might assign her to the species she’s the most similar to. And even if that didn’t happen and she was allowed to stay on earth, who says we get to keep her? What stops the X-Men or the Alien Council of giving her to another family, perhaps one with… a mother.” Teddy finished. Billy sat there looking at the floor for a good minute. Teddy felt his stomach weigh down at the thought of what he had just said. But it had to be done, for the good of Billy and himself.

“I want her,” Billy stated suddenly, Teddy looked up at him with confused eyes, “I want her and I won’t use magic to get her but God knows I will try in any other way possible. There are plenty of reasons we should have her and I don’t plan on sitting back and let people assume we aren’t worthy of her just because we gave up on having a child after the whole world denied us any. If you want to do that you can stay home and not care, but as long as I have a chance I am going to go support my cause and try to get that child into my arms.” Billy stated. Teddy sighed,

“Billy but don’t you see? You don’t want her! You want a child! It could have been the green one you were carrying yesterday and if you had a chance you would want him too!” Teddy said as he raised his voice. Billy stood up and looked down on his husband,

“That is a lie, and I will tell you why. You know why it took me so long to get the babies out of the building we infiltrated?” Billy asked aggressively. Teddy opened his mouth to answer but he realized he truly had nothing to say to that. “It took me so long because I couldn’t teleport her.” He finished, “She wouldn’t budge, no magic I used on her would make her even levitate a centimeter. I knew I had to get the other babies to safety so I teleported all the incubators in hope that she would follow within the one where she was kept. But as soon as I got back I saw her empty incubator and I realized what I had done. I went back as soon as I could and I could hear the building collapsing and there she was on the floor not even crying! All she did was look at me with those huge eyes. I held her and made a field around us to protect us, which worked but of course after that we were under who knows how many hundreds of pounds of rubble.” Billy stopped for a moment, staring into the air, “I don’t remember being that scared in a long time. The weight was enormous and I was afraid to transport because I thought she would be left behind again. But in the end my field broke and everything went onto us before I felt Tommy vibrating us through the ground. And then we were in the surface and then we were at the base and… well, you know the rest.” Billy finished. Teddy was silent; he tried to let all the information sink in.

“That’s why I want her Teddy,” Billy stated, his hand on his chest as if he was comforting himself, “Because she’s immune to me, that means I couldn’t have created her! That means I couldn’t have controlled her fate! That means this baby would really be the gift of the universe to us and not just some reality I created in my despair!” he said. Teddy looked up at his husband with a calm look on his face,

“I see,” he answered softly. They stared into each other’s eyes in silence, their eyes expressing everything that wasn’t being said out loud. “I understand,” he added, “Let’s go get her then.” 

…

Both men sat in the public at the audience called in with the Galactic Council. Teddy was in his Captain Marvel uniform, his Trojan like silver helmet on his head, hiding all his blonde hair, and his skin green. His body was tall and majestic; demanding respect. They sat near the front row and Teddy could feel the excitement and worry radiating from the Sorcerer Supreme. Soon enough the Council had settled and everyone sat down. Representatives of the largest Empires of the Universe sat there along with those of the most distant galaxies that were transmitted by video. Kate walked into the center of the room with the baby in her arms. Billy wanted to scream at how adorable the girl looked; Kate had placed a small pink bow on her head and dressed her in a little pink dress with small pink shoes. She still had her fingers in her mouth and she looked around with curious eyes before she saw Billy. Then she stopped searching and focused her attention only on the sorcerer. He wanted to wave but felt that it would perhaps show some kind of preference, which of course would not be good for the Council to see. Even so the baby kept her eyes on the brunette and didn’t look away until Kate stopped in front of the council and spoke.

“I present myself to you today, oh mighty Galactic Council, and ask you for advice regarding this child in my arms, for she has no home or family.” Kate announced. The aliens had translating ear-sets that began to work as soon as she spoke. The Council seemed baffled for a moment but one of them spoke,

“Is the child human?” asked one of them, his voice strange and mechanical as it was translated from his native language.

“No, she is not,” Kate answered.

“Then she is alien? Which type?” A second one added. This one was clearly Kree,

“We do not know, we entered her DNA into our systems and they do not recognize her.” Kate stated. The Council began to murmur with their respective guards and advisors that had come with them but soon enough another spoke,

“Are you sure your information is accurate?” Asked a cyber-alien in perfect English, his system probably containing a translator of its own,

“We have one of the biggest alien information archives in the universe, we aren’t usually wrong. But in case it was so, I sent her DNA to the other large archives of the universe including many in your home planets. I believe the information was sent with you,” Kate informed. Soon enough four different scientists, that were obviously of different alien race,s filed into the room with holograms in their hands; they made a line in front of the Council. Teddy squeezed Billy’s hand,

“It’s ok, if she’s not on our files she’s probably not on anybody’s.” he whispered. Billy nodded, but he felt the dread in his stomach all the same,

“The scientists of District 18 have found no direct relationship between the subject and any of the alien races listen in our archives,” a pinkish and short alien informed, his set of four beady eyes looking up with respect when he finished.

“The Mother Board of the Central Cybernetic System did not find an existing connection between the sample and any other species recorded previously.” The robotic alien informed. Wires ran all over his being and created a type of muscle tissue that covered him completely.

“The Galactic Archive informs that it cannot find a positive counterpart to the specimen presented to them and any other species already in our archives.” A tall, insect like alien informed. His sharp teeth glistened in the bright lighting of the room making him quite intimidating. Finally eyes fell on the very last scientist,

“The Biological Galactic Research Center has not found a match to the sample provided by the Humans of planet Earth in any of its files.” A bony lady informed, her skin so transparent you could see all her bones shining through. “Therefore we have classified it as: Unidentified slash Deceased Species.” The lady finished. At this the room burst into murmurs and whispers. Billy sighed and Teddy smiled. Everyone fell silent when the Skrull representative raised his hand,

“So this child is not from any species we know of. Where did you find her?” he asked.

“She was rescued in an infiltration to a suspicious facility where illegal experimentation was found.” Kate answered. The Skrull leader stopped and rubbed his green chin thoughtfully,

“What keeps this child from being a result of a successful experiment then?” he asked. Kate took a moment to think of that question. It had not occurred to her that perhaps this child was a creation of the scientists?

“We do not know, but we thought that if these scientists were to create a living creature they would have to begin with some type of already existing tissue to begin from.” Kate stated. There was silence as the Council thought,

“I believe,” a female alien announced from where she sat, her skin blue and her eyes pitch black, “That since the creature was found and created on Earth, and has no family otherwise, then she should remain here.” Billy felt his heart skip a beat,

“I disagree,” the Cyborg alien announced, “I believe this is a species have never dealt with before and for all we know she could be dangerous. Leaving her on Earth could bring danger to the species of humans and mutants.” He finished.

“The humans can deal with it! They’ve dealt with Kang the Conqueror and Doctor Doom! What makes you think they can’t handle a baby?” The human representative, the old and wise Doctor Strange who was now in his age of retirement, answered,

“I agree with the comment of the Doctor,” The Skrull announced. The Kree thought about it for a minute before speaking. Billy thought he could run up and kiss Doctor Strange right there and then, he also felt a strange happiness at seeing one of his husband’s people defending what he secretly wanted.

“I believe it’s fine, but if we find any species that matches her DNA then we must send her away.” The Kree announced. The Cyborg alien seemed to accept his defeat and joined in,

“Alright, but who will care for this baby? We most certainly cannot send her to a foster home; we do not know what she is capable of.” He added,

“He is right, the baby needs to be under watch at all times,” the Kree announced. At this point there was a small smile on Doctor Strange’s face,

“I have an idea,” he announced, all eyes were on him, “What if we give the child to a gifted family, one that will be able to handle any type of strange break out or power the child may have. I speak of a super family, if so to say,” Billy was at the verge of breaking Teddy’s fingers at how hard he was holding them.

“Is Doctor Strange trying to adopt us a kid?” Teddy whispered in disbelief. Billy couldn’t even answer as he paid his undivided attention to the situation at hand.

“I agree, that would be a fine idea,” the aquatic lady answered,

“Perhaps even one with alien descent even, so that the child could feel understood and grow up in a good environment, or at least until we find her species.” Doctor Strange continued. Teddy seemed to stop breathing for a moment,

“Alright, then Kate Bishop of Earth, we bestow upon you the responsibility to find a gifted couple or family, hopefully with some kind of alien descent, that can adopt this child until further notice.” The Kree alien announced, “All in favor raise their hands,” at this, every single representative rose their hand. Billy was doing all he could to not break his cool and Teddy was slowly yet steadily losing oxygen as he realized what had just been decided. 

“I thank you, Galactic Council, for your wise advice,” she announced. 

“We now conclude this session, you are all dismissed.” The aquatic alien announced. The representatives rose and so did everyone else. Teddy and Billy were out the back door before most people had even stood up. They ran down the hall and towards the room where Kate was supposed to exit through. 

“Oh my God did that just happen?” Teddy asked in an excited voice, quickly moving away from the large crowd exiting the room.

“I don’t know, but I better now be magic dreaming right now!” Billy hissed in a thrilled tone. They took a corner and froze. Kate was standing before them with Tommy at her side and a big smile on her face,

“Gifted couple with alien descent, is Doctor Strange a genius or what?” Tommy chuckled. The little girl in Kate’s arms turned as she noticed the two men standing nearby and locked eyes with them. 

“Oh my…” Billy couldn’t even finish, he could feel the tears forming in his eyes as he tumbled forward. And for once the little girl pulled her fingers out of her mouth; she stretched her small stubby arms towards Billy just as he reached them. He placed his hands around her small body and lifted her into his arms. As soon as she was comfortably in his embrace she looked up at him with huge eyes,

“Oh… she’s just… she’s perfect,” Billy started saying before the tears began rolling down his cheeks. Teddy reached them too and placed a green hand gently on the tiny girl’s head,

“She really is, right? She has your hair and eyes!” he said with a smile. Billy choked out something that sounded between a sob and a burst of laughter. He held her up and embraced her, tightly,

“Oh wow, I’m going to get constipated by how cheesy this is! Aren’t you guys even going to give her a name?” Tommy asked. Billy looked up at him,

“Oh, that’s pretty important isn’t it?” he said with a smile. 

“I thought you guys had chosen names already hadn’t you?” Kate said. Billy nodded, Teddy wiping off the tears on his husband’s face.

“Yeah, I wanted Sofia but Teddy wanted Ana,” he said in a cracking voice, “We never settled for one though,” Teddy smiled as he bent down to kiss Billy’s wet cheek,

“Ana Sofia then,” he answered, “Ana Sofia Altman-Kaplan,” Billy almost began to sob all over again and the baby made a distressed noise,

“Oh! Am I holding her right? Don’t tell me I’m hurting her!” Billy said in a worried tone as he lifted her up from under her arms so she was facing him. The little baby stared at Billy for a moment before one of her tiny arms went up and touched his nose with miniature fingers. 

“Abaaba,” she made the strange noise as she began tapping Billy’s nose with the palm of her hand,

“I don’t think she likes you crying,” Kate said with a smile. Billy chuckled as Teddy dried his tears once again and Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Speaking of which, I AM Uncle Tommy and you guys cannot deny me my time with my niece ok?” he said as he pointed at the couple, “Just putting that straight, I’m going to spoil that brat until she can’t be spoiled no more and then leave her for you guys to deal with.” He said with an evil smile. Billy couldn’t bring himself to care about his brother’s warnings. All he could do was look at his baby; their baby, theirs and nobody else’s. 

…

“I guess this means we have to add a new room to the house,” Teddy announced as they entered their home, Billy still with Ana Sofia in his arms. The 'Sofia' seemed to be sticking more than the 'Ana' but Teddy was just happy he got the name he chose on the official document.

“Sure does,” Billy said, “But until then she can sleep in a crib at the end of the bed, oh remember we need to buy the powdered milk tomorrow plus diapers. The stash Kate gave us will only last so long,” he said. Teddy nodded as he went to the Kitchen to get them some water and prepare the baby’s dinner. Billy sat down at the couch and changed into pajamas with a swift move of his hands. At the sight of Billy’s blue magic Sofia’s eyes were large once more and she began looking around in a confused manner,

“Ahhmma,” she began to babble as she looked around at the blue light,

“Sh, it’s ok; daddy just does some magic tricks once in a while.” Billy whispered to the baby. She seemed to react to the words and relax a bit,

“Alright, here we are,” Teddy announced as he brought the formula in a small bottle for the baby and two glasses of water. Billy sat back and held the baby as he had been taught to before placing the bottle’s tip near her lips and letting her start sucking on it lightly. Billy could only look down at the small creature in his arms and smile; she was feisty and was swallowing the white liquid down fast,

“She eats a lot, and quickly!” Billy said with a surprised smile, but his eyes never left the baby. Teddy smiled at the view. He felt his heart warm up at the sight of his true love and their baby; finally, their baby. It was like Billy was cut out for being a parent. As soon as the baby was done with the first one, Teddy went and made a second, and then a third, and then a fourth, and fifth, and only when she finished the sixth was she satisfied. Kate had told them she ate a lot so they shouldn't worry if she asked for more. Billy managed to magic Teddy into his night pants and was about to magic Sofia when his blue magic had no effect on her. Her clothes were still the same and her eyes just watched with interest and the blue light flickered around her yet did nothing. 

“Oh,” Teddy said with a curious look. Billy tried once more but the magic just slid off her and disappeared into the air. 

“Kind of weird isn’t it,” Billy said with a small smile. They changed her into pajamas Kate had given them and took her to their room. Billy was able to magic a crib out of thin air and was relieved when he was able to place Sofia into it.

“Maybe she’s just immune to magic directed to her?” Teddy asked. Billy shrugged, but as he stared down at their silently sleeping baby and all he could do was smile. That night both men snuck into their bed and held each other tightly, for they had never been this happy in their whole lives.


	4. The Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so, parenthood begins.

Teddy jogged down the street, his bag bouncing against his right shoulder as he hurried towards the clinic. He had been caught up in an important meeting and was forced to leave the HQ by foot because “No you can’t use a teletransporter for personal reasons so stop being a little bitch and go pick up your daughter and husband,” according to Kate. He still had a few blocks to run and morphing for wings was out of the question, things weren’t that easy these days and if you wanted to keep teenage and young adult heroes from using their powers in public then you had to be an example. Teddy cursed himself internally for being such a rule follower. Suddenly a black car appeared next to him and the passenger seat window rolled down,

“Ok I think I made you suffer enough for that, hop in,” Kate retorted from the driver’s seat. Teddy groaned and got into the car. They sped away towards the Main Medical Center. There was a certain wing for aliens and mutants that had opened recently and was giving the hospital incredible income. Also, Billy had decided it was time Sofia saw her first pediatrician. As a good father, Teddy should also be going and so they decided to meet there at 4. Of course, it was 3:58 and by foot he would have never gotten there before 4:15, and that was pushing it. So he was thankful when Kate was able to drop him off at the Hospital at about 4:02, which was much better than 15, thank you very much. 

“You’re two minutes late,” Billy said as Teddy got out of the car, the little girl in his arms sleeping soundly.

“Cut him some slack Billy, he just finished almost making absolute peace with a extremist religious Skrull group.” Kate defended from inside the black car. She sent the baby kisses from where she sat and drove away promising she would come by soon to visit her new niece. The couple walked into the clinic and felt as many eyes landed on them,

“How is she doing?” Teddy asked, he looked at the baby who slept peacefully,

“She’s good, eating a lot, sleeping well; she doesn’t seem really fond of toys actually.” Billy said. They called the elevator and waited for it to reach the first floor,

“So what are we here for again? Just for a checkup right?” Teddy asked,

“Yeah, to make sure everything is in place, just for the sake of it,” Billy repeated. They stepped into the elevator with a few other people and pressed the button for the 4th floor.

“Well, let’s see what the doctor has to say about our UA daughter,” Teddy snickered, that sentence won him a glare from Billy, “What?” Teddy defended. They reached the fourth floor and stepped out of the elevator. As soon as they got out and took a right they froze. The whole hallways was colorful and covered in pictures and characters. Toys lay everywhere and there were many children playing and crying in their parent’s arms, but what was impressive was what the kids looked like. A small blue boy was starting to climb up a wall before his purple father plucked him off the surface with a scold, a little girl that looked normal at first sneezed and coughed little sparks of fire that her parents would hurry in trying to put out before they caused damage. The whole place was full of gifted children,

“Oh wow,” Billy whispered. Teddy nodded,

“Yeah, wow,” he answered. Teddy placed his hand on Billy’s back and helped push him forwards towards the room where their doctor was at. They knocked lightly on the glass door,

“Come in,” a voice called from inside. The men let themselves in and smiled at the person they met,

“Well if it isn’t the two newly parented “gifted couple”,” The man said as he stood up. He had been a good friend of the Avengers and he was an absolute go to when it came to gifted children. Jacob Crawlyn had a PhD in alien medicine and surgery and was the first person Billy thought to call. His hair was grey for he was already an older man and he wore thick glasses in front of his crystal clear blue irises. He was a short man but walked with pride.

“Crawlyn, how have you been?” Teddy asked as he walked forward, shaking hands with the thin man,

“Holding in there, the hospital is growing and it’s hard to keep the funding but what can I say? I’m happier than I’ve been in years,” he said with a large smile, “And how is my favorite Sorcerer Supreme?” the old man exclaimed as he shook hands with Billy. His eyes widened when he looked down at the baby, “And who is this beauty?” he asked,

“Ana Sofia Altman-Kaplan,” Billy announced with pride. The doctor smiled down at the baby who was still sleeping,

“Alright, how about we get started, let’s go right this way.” The doctor announced. He led them towards another room where there was an examination bed made especially for kids with teddy bears and little dolls all over it. The whole room was pastel colors and seemed peaceful enough for a baby. Billy placed Sofia on the examining bed carefully and watched as her big brown eyes opened up,

“Sh, don’t worry, the doctor is just going to check if everything is alright, ok?” he said to his daughter. She seemed to relax at the soft words her father whispered.

“Alright, so how old is Sofia?” The doctor asked as he moved in and snapped his stethoscope plugs into his ears,

“We don’t know actually, but we think she looks around two months old? Hopefully she doesn’t age at a very different rate than us.” Billy explained. The doctor nodded as he pressed the end of the stethoscope on the baby’s chest,

“She’s unidentified, correct?” he asked.

“Yes, they couldn’t find her DNA trail at all,” Teddy answered this time. The doctor nodded as he continued to analyze the baby,

“She’s more on the quiet side isn’t she?” he asked. Most babies would cry at this point in examination if their parents were comforting them, but the baby sat quiet as both her guardians stood a respectful distance from him.

“Yeah, she doesn’t cry at all. We haven’t even heard her voice if not for a few sounds she makes when things surprise her,” Billy explained.

“Mhmm, so her voice seems human so far?” He asked as he checked inside the baby’s mouth,

“Well, so far everything about her seems human except for the tail.” Teddy said. The doctor stopped for a moment and looked up with a confused face,

“Tail?” he asked. Both parents nodded and the doctor carefully lifted Sofia and turned her upside down. He carefully peeled back the baby’s dress and analyzed the little tail that twitched here and there every few seconds.

“Hah, fascinating, she has a multi-arrowed tail! These only belong to certain alien species but those are far from human,” the doctor announced as he took a ruler and measured the length of the tail as well as the thickness. The baby let out an uncomfortable little sound that made the doctor smile,

“Now now, I know you don’t like me touching your tail but it’s only for a second,” he said. With those words he finished and pulled the small blue dress over her bottom again.

“Alright, so she sounds quite human indeed. She has a multi-arrowed tail which will probably begin to show in three years, I would guess, based on past experiences. But I could be wrong since we know nothing about her.” He concluded, he turned her around once more and looked towards the parents,

“I know this might sound bizarre, but her reproductive organs seem human from outside as well as the way she excretes substances, correct?” the doctor inquired as he lifted Sofia into his arms and carried her to the scale in the opposite side of the room. 

“Yes, she looks like a girl and pees and poos the same way normal kids do,” Billy answered. The doctor chuckled at the childish vocabulary Billy was adopting. He laid her on the electric balance and pressed the buttons to turn it on. The moment the number showed up on the screen the doctor’s eyes almost fell out of his head,

“Goodness, this machine must be faulty!” The doctor exclaimed as he recalculated the weight and got the same result,

“Is everything alright?” Teddy asked,

“Oh yes, except I can’t seem to weight your daughter! My machine is going crazy,” he answered as the numbers that were supposed to show her weight started changing every second from tiny quantities to huge ones. The doctor sighed and picked the child up,

“We will have to go with the old way,” he announced as he placed her on the older scale and began moving the small weights around to even out the kilos and the kilograms. Finally he looked up,

“Is it alright if I send down a quick blood exam and x-ray?” he asked. Billy looked at Teddy for a moment before nodding,

“Yes, of course,” he answered. The doctor nodded and took Sofia back to where she had been laying before. He took a small device that contained an empty container and placed it on the baby’s wrist. The baby didn’t even shift as the machine did a small noise and dark blue blood began to flow into the container. 

“Blue?” Teddy asked in amazement. Billy also gaped at the strange color of the baby’s blood. The doctor didn’t take too much and as soon as he was done he placed it on a platter where it disintegrated a few seconds later. Lastly he moved a lamp looking machine over Sofia and turned it on so a blue light covered her,

“Alright Sofia, hold still,” the doctor instructed. The baby didn’t move anyway as she looked up at the light. After a few seconds the doctor turned the light off and pushed it away,

“We will get the results in a few minutes. Ah alright, well,” he said as picked her up and gave her to the parents, “I have a lot to tell you, how about we sit down?” he offered as they stepped out of the room and into his office once more. Both men sat at the two chairs in front of the doctor’s desk, Teddy with a very awake and curious Sofia in his arms. Within a few seconds there was a beeping sound and a nurse walked into the room with some files in her hand,

“Ana Sofia Altman-Kaplan,” she said as she handed them to the doctor. He thanked her and then turned towards the two men,

“Alright, where to start, the heart,” he explained, “The heart is not made up of four ventricles as ours is or the Kree and Skrull and Aquatics,” he said, “It is actually made up of eight very small ventricles as you may see here, this is actually strange because we have found a rather new species that seemed to have evolved from old space arachnid species and has this type of heart.” He explained, “Then there is the lungs, very large and reduce to an incredibly small size. I wouldn’t be surprised if she could hold her breath for fifteen minutes if she tried because of the amount of oxygen pockets she creates every time she breathes.” He said as he pointed at the small white bubbles surrounding the little lungs in the image, “Her inner organs seem to be the same as ours but their position is slightly different, as would be expected. There is one thing that is different, she seems have three different intestines routes. There seem to be two large intestines; perhaps she is able to consume some other type of substance other than just solids and liquids.” 

“Wow,” Billy admired,

“She’s really special alright,” Teddy chuckled as he looked down at the baby who was trying to reach up towards her father’s face. He leaned down and nuzzled her cheek, she smiled and let out a tiny laugh as she placed her small hands on his nose,

“And I’m not even done yet!” the doctor exclaimed, “We have here something even more interesting yet. Her bones are not made of calcium,” he explained, “They seem to contain some sort of strong mineral plus a strange cartilage which I believe I’ve seen in Aquatic species,” he said, “Also her eyes have an amazing reaction to light, I also noticed she might be developing a second eye lid under her first. Kind of like crocodiles,” he picked up another paper and analyzed it, “I would take her to a dentist but warn him, because I think she might have a double row of a teeth developing but he would have to confirm that. Her tail we spoke of already and her hands and feet seem normal as well as most of the rest of her. You should always be prepared for any surprises she might have.” The doctor chuckled as he looked at the baby from above his glasses. Teddy had held her up so she was leaning on his shoulder and she was curiously touching his earrings. “Finally, her blood, this is going to be very interesting indeed,” he said as he read through the last paper in the stack, “She has copper based blood, not iron based which is red. This is why it was blue and her blood is actually one that I have only found in extinct species or living fossils.” He said. William’s eyes widened,

“Wait, so our daughter has organs that have just been discovered in evolving species yet she has blood from hundreds of years ago?” he asked.

“14 million years ago, to be precise,” Crawlyn stated, he sighed and looked up from the papers to face the young couple. “I think this baby is healthy and strong and I would love to see her again next year, I would like to know how fast she is aging and how her body is developing. I also realize that she is completely understanding and reacts to human affection, which is very good given the fact she has been given to very caring parents.” The doctor finished with a smile, “I believe everything will be alright.” Billy and Teddy exchanged smiles and then looked at Sofia who by now was trying very hard to reach up and eat her father’s earrings. The young couple smiled, parenting was turning out to be a million times better than they had expected.


	5. The Early Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first years of school begin.

Four Years Later

William stood in front of the colorful building on the outskirts of New York City. It was now 1:55 and he once more praised himself for being so early. As soon as the five minutes went by there was the sound of a bell and suddenly little kids were spilling out of the small Kindergarten with loud little voices and clumsy steps. Many parents were already waiting outside or there was a small bus where a few of the children would be led to by the teachers and then driven to a closer bus stop in Manhattan. Billy waited patiently and said hello to a few of the parents he had become acquainted with as he looked around for the green dress he had put on his daughter that morning. Suddenly he saw as that familiar little child appeared at the entrance of the building and began running towards him with short and bouncy steps,

“Daddy,” she exclaimed as she got closer. Billy smiled and lifted her into his arms,

“Sofia! How was your day at Kinder?” he asked. Her huge brown curls bouncing around her incredibly pale and roundish face made her look adorable,

“Good,” she answered simply. “We had cookies after lunch, I ate five,” she said. Her light brown eyes were just as huge and curious but at least now she could express what she thought. 

“That’s good that you ate five and not fifty!” Billy exclaimed. She shook her head,

“No! That would be mean!” she shrieked. Billy agreed with her and began walking towards where he had parked the car when someone tapped his shoulder. He turned and was suddenly face to face with a young man with light dirty blonde hair and big green eyes, Billy recognized him as one of the younger teachers at the Kinder.

“Mr. Kaplan! I’m sorry, I know you’re probably busy but I wanted to talk to you for a moment.” He said. Billy nodded,

“Of course Mr. Reed, tell me,” he said. Sofia stared at Mr. Reed with intent eyes,

“Well, you see, um, something happened today and this got the other teachers and I thinking that perhaps Sofia should move on from here…” the teacher said in a shy manner. Billy’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion,

“From here? What? Did she do something?” he asked. The teacher shook his head,

“No! I mean, well, yes, but nothing bad! I guess what I mean was maybe she shouldn’t be in Kindergarten.” He tried again. “Mostly because we think she might be more… special than the other kids here.” He said. Suddenly Billy felt furious. Had they found out about her tail? Had someone told them? Were they kicking his daughter out because she was special? But Billy kept his composure and looked at Mr. Reed straight in the eyes so hard that the young teacher went pale,

“I am going to give you two seconds to fix what you just said before I either slap you across the face and or sue this place for not letting my daughter attend Kinder.” Billy hissed. Mr. Reed shook his head,

“No no! What I meant was she’s too smart! We were doing the alphabet last week and she learned it within the first run through of it! And then a few days ago she was able to memorize all numbers until a thousand and then today one of the teachers tried teaching her how to add, just as an experiment. It went so well we got her to understand fractions and multiplying and she’s only a four year old!” Mr. Reed blabbered out. “I’m not saying she shouldn’t be here because she isn’t worthy, it’s just she’s too good for what we can offer to her right now!”

Billy was still for a few seconds before he looked at Sofia who was currently analyzing the autumn trees that surrounded them. 

“What?” Billy asked suddenly, “Multiplication?” Mr. Reed nodded,

“Yes! Look, Sofia, what is three times three?” Mr. Reed asked. Sofia turned around at the sound of her name and faced the young teacher. She was quiet for a moment before answering,

“Nine,” she said. Billy’s eyes widened.

“So, you guys could have a direct refund since she’s only been here a month and a half. We would only charge the fist term of this year. We just think she would be losing her time here, also most kids don’t seem to keep up with her train of thought and many of them get confused.” He explained. Billy sighed and then laughed,

“Wow, I was definitely not prepared for this. But alright, I understand and I think I need to talk with my husband before I decide anything.” He said. Mr. Reed nodded and thanked him for his time. After that Billy placed Sofia in her bumper seat and drove away from the colorful building. This was going to be an interesting conversation.

…

“You want her to skip Kindergarten? And possibly 1st grade or 2nd? Do you want your kid to be just as much of a social outcast as you were?” Tommy asked sarcastically. He had decided to visit today of all days and Teddy laughed when Sofia smiled widely and ran to her uncle with the question of “will you explode more peas for me when we eat dinner?” Even Billy had to laugh at the sudden realization of how they thought they had managed to get Sofia to eat her peas. Tommy was now sitting in the dining room with his feet on the table and Sofia sleeping on his chest. They had also noted that even though Sofia got older she seemed to love sleeping more than anything else, well, maybe right after eating. Billy sighed as he stirred the alphabet letter soup he was making for Sofia for dinner. 

“No, I just feel like the teacher is right, what Sofia can do is amazing and we should let her grow to her full potential.” Billy concurred. Teddy, who had been standing silently at the other side of the kitchen counter and listening to the conversation, finally spoke up. 

“I think it is a great idea,” he said. Tommy gave him an incredulous look,

“Really, this out of all things you’re going to agree to,” he asked. Teddy shrugged,

“If Sofia is smarter than the average four year old then I don’t see the problem. Besides, Tommy, we don’t know how she is going to turn out and you know that,” he answered. Tommy raised an eyebrow,

“What do you mean we don’t know? We know she’s a kid!” he answered. Teddy gave him a serious look,

“Tommy we don’t know how fast she ages. For all we know she could start learning now and be fantastic at it and as soon as she hits 8 her brain will just freeze and learn nothing more. We don’t know if she’ll even grow up to be like us, she might be tiny forever. She might grow old and outlive the future six generations of humans. We don’t know Tommy, and if she can do something now I say we let her do it for as long as she can.” Teddy said. Tommy had no guts to speak after those words. He looked at Billy and pursed his lips together,

“Alright, you’re daughter, you decide,” he said softly as he raised his hand and began smoothing the top of Sofia’s hair. Billy had stopped stirring for a moment as he retold Teddy’s words in his head. He was right. They had no idea how Sofia was going to grow up, if she even would! It took him a minute before he was able to regain his composure and continue stirring the soup.

“Alright, dinner is ready, Teddy you can reheat our dinner and Tommy is going to have to eat soup with Sofia.” Billy announced,

“Score!” Tommy said as Billy placed a large bowl of alphabetical soup in front of his twin,

“Jeez you never grow up, do you?” Billy said with a smile. Tommy put his feet down and lifted Sofia off his chest,

“Alright, time to eat you sleepy head,” he announced as the young girl opened her eyes lazily and yawned. Tommy placed her on her tall seat so she could reach the table and Billy placed the equally large bowl of soup in front of her. She smiled,

“Score!” She screeched in her tiny voice. Both Teddy and Billy stopped what they were doing to glare at Tommy, who was smiling like a madman,

“That’s my girl, up high,” he said as he high-fived her tiny hand. She smiled back. Teddy placed his and Billy’s plates on the table as Billy brought out some water so they could drink and some juice for Tommy and Sofia. They ate and spoke and Tommy made a few childish jokes that made Sofia laugh loudly and the parents snicker a few times, Billy spoke about some work stuff with Teddy and Tommy and Sofia told them about her day at Kinder where she learned how to say hello how are you in mandarin because of the Chinese girl she spoke to. By the end of dinner, Tommy had gone off with Sofia to get an ice cream and Teddy and Billy were alone in the apartment.

“It’s been a long day,” Teddy sighed as he finished washing the dishes. Billy agreed silently as he finished cleaning the table and walked over to throw away the extra crumbs and napkins in the trash. When he turned around he froze, Teddy was standing right in front of him, their chests touching.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been alone,” he whispered huskily into Billy’s ear, his hot breath making Billy shiver.

“Yeah,” he answered with a smile, his hand reaching to up to run over Teddy’s thighs. “And I think we deserve some stress relief, don’t we?” his cheek now pressed against Teddy’s, feeling his warmth as their bodies pressed together even more. He could feel how Teddy’s pride rose and pressed against his own, Teddy’s hands running over Billy’s arms and their face moved until their foreheads were touching. 

“How long has it been?” Billy asked. 

“I’d say… what… three months?” He calculated. Billy laughed,

“Wow, that’s probably a record,” he said with a smile. Teddy smiled back,

“What do we do about Sofia and the other kid that’s probably mentally her same age?” he asked. Billy smiled,

“I already took care of that,” he whispered as he reached a hand up to cup Teddy’s cheek. They both leaned in for a deep kiss as Teddy wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer. With a simple movement of his fingers they were in their bedroom, Billy slipping his hands under Teddy’s shirt and Teddy unbuttoning Billy’s shirt, tops came off and both men hugged once more, feeling their bare chests make contact as their lips continued to move together and their hands moved lower. The sound of their belts unbuckling gave Teddy a strange feeling of anticipation as he felt his pants slide off his hips and onto the floor. Teddy went a step farther as he slipped his hands into Billy’s boxers on the sides and pushed them down all together. Billy shivered but pushed Teddy towards the bed where they both got comfortable and continued to kiss as their hands began to search over their bodies. With a simple shift of Billy’s hips they both gasped lightly and embraced each other for what would a night of euphoria and passion. 

Downstairs, on the other hand, a cursing Tommy walked away from the bottom of the apartment building with a sleeping Sofia in his arms after “magically” getting a text that read “I’m sure Sofia would love to sleep over at her Uncle’s house.” And Tommy knew better than to interrupt,

“Alright kiddo, you’re sleeping at my place tonight,” Tommy mumbled as he shifted the little girl in his arms to make her more comfortable as they walked in the cool autumn streets of New York.


	6. The Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is going wonderfull for the Altman-Kaplan family, but it´s when the hopes are highest that they fall the hardest.

One Year Later

It was Friday, finally, and the day had begun like no other. Teddy had finished making peace with the extremist religious group and Billy had just returned from a long trip in the Aquatics Empire fixing a problem over a human ship that had crash landed nearby and caused an oil spill. Both parents went to get Sofia at her new school for gifted children that had accepted to take her into 2nd grade even when she was merely 5. She screeched in delight and ran to Billy’s arms as soon as she realized he was home. 

“Daddy, you were missed!” She said with a smile,

“You were missed? Where have you been learning to speak so fancy?” Billy asked. She simply smiled and kissed him on the cheek with her tiny rose pink lips. Sofia had become practically a living sponge in her last year. She came home with a new request every time of different things she wanted to learn. There were few extra lessons they could actually find for 5 year olds so they decided to go with languages. Sofia started with Mandarin and was doing so well they considered enrolling her in Spanish next. She was doing wonderfully. Now, her social skills apparently needed some working on, she wouldn’t speak a word in school to other kids. She might share a few words during a group project but other than that she was silent and unmoving. She disliked recess and used that time to nap under the teacher’s desk, something which the lovely young 1st grade teacher couldn’t deny her. William didn’t really know if this was a good sign or not, but Sofia seemed more than happy when she got home, so he paid no attention to it.

“Ok Sofia! Guess who’s what we’re doing tonight?” Teddy asked their daughter as she came back from leaving her backpack in her room,

“Um… Ice-cream?” She asked. Billy smiled,

“No, not ice-cream, and Sofia pick up your jacket, your father and I aren’t going to be around to pick up after you all the time.” He said as he pointed at the light blue sweater she had dropped next to the door when they arrived.

“Yes sir,” Sofia said with a nod and ran over to take her stuff to her room. As soon as she was out of hearing range Billy covered his mouth with his right hand,

“Gosh why is she so freaking adorable!” He asked. Teddy shrugged,

“Probably learned it from you,” he said with a smile. Sofia walked back and smiled at her parents, “Are we going to the Library?” she asked with wide eyes,

“No, and it’s not a museum either,” Teddy said. The tall blonde began walking towards the opposite side of the room, “You have to guess better Sofia!” he said, as he did he shifted his hip to the right slightly and let a DVD that was placed on one of the tables in the room fall to the ground “accidentally”. This, obviously, did not go unnoticed by Sofia, who watched fall with her huge eyes and stared at it for a good few seconds before looking up,

“We’re watching a movie right?” she asked with a smile. Teddy smiled but gave a confused face, he thought Sofia might run over and pick the DVD up before actually realizing the clue, but apparently he was ahead of the game. 

“Yes, and guess which one it is!” Billy said with a smile. 

“Oh no,” Teddy said with a concerned face, he put both his hands on his cheeks in an exaggerated manner. Sofia looked at her blonde father and caught on quickly with the act,

“Oh no!” she repeated, also placing her small hands on her huge cheeks, on cue both of them yelled, “Not the sound of music! No!” 

“What? Teddy!” Billy accused with an incredulous smile. With that Teddy ran over and picked Sofia up as they dashed into her bedroom screeching,

“Run!” Teddy yelled,

“Run!” She screeched after him,

“He’s going to make us sit through long hours of musical numbers!” Teddy yelled melodramatically, “Oh the horror!”

“The horror!” Sofia echoed once more, a huge smile on her face. Teddy rushed into her room and placed her on the bed,

“Quickly! Get under the covers where he can’t get us!” Teddy instructed. Sofia was giggling as she wriggled under her covers and pulled them over her little curly haired head. Billy, who was silently snickering outside the room managed to muster up some control and opened the door with a serious face. 

“Teddy, where on earth is Sofia? We have to watch the Sound of Music now, or you shall perish otherwise!” Billy said as he pointed at his husband,

“Oh, she isn’t here!” Teddy said with a smile as Sofia let out an uncontrolled giggle from under the covers. Billy was smiling now,

“Then you will have to pay for her crimes! Theodore Altman-Kaplan, you must watch it twice in a row with me! Once for you and once for Sofia!” 

“No William! Have mercy!” Teddy said as he fell to his knees. 

“No!” Sofia yelled as she pushed the covers off and ran to William who swooped her up and kissed her on the cheek.

“You guys are snobs! I’m going to go watch my movie by myself!” Billy complained. Teddy stood up and embraced his husband and daughter in a huge hug. He kissed both of them and smiled,

“No it’s alright, but how about we get some lunch before we hit the couch?” Teddy offered. Both Billy and Sofia smiled and Teddy had to acknowledge that they looked pretty similar. 

…

“Ahh, nothing like a movie after eating.” Teddy sighed contently as he sat down at the couch with Sofia in his arms. She was having a hard time staying awake during the day but she was progressively taking shorter naps and sleeping more at night time. Billy smiled as he magicked the TV on and began to pop the pop-corn, between Sofia and Teddy there was never enough food in the house. Teddy was playing with Sofia’s hair as she took a short nap on his chest when something caught his eye on the screen. There was a News Channel that was broadcasting an attack in Times Square,

“William,” Teddy called, “I think you should see this.” Billy peered from the kitchen door and his eyes widened.

“What? Times Square? This can’t be happening, how come we haven’t been called?” He asked. Suddenly, as if on cue, their phones vibrated at the same time. Billy flipped his out and answered, as did Teddy as he placed a sleeping Sofia on the couch to not bother her.

“Kate? What’s this all about? Who is it this time?” Billy asked.

“I don’t know but we can’t seem to see them! They’re invisible but their exploding cars and breaking down all electric connections. We can’t send mutants near without them being paralyzed! It’s like there’s some kind of gas or something!” Kate yelled. Teddy looked up at Billy and they both knew they had to go.

“We’ll be there in a minute.” Teddy stated and both of them hung up. Billy immediately phoned their emergency sitter and Teddy woke Sofia up,

“Sofia, honey, wake up,” he said as she lazily opened her clear amber eyes, “We have to go because some people are in trouble, we are calling Sally and she’ll be here as soon as she can. Until then you should just sit on the couch and don’t open to anybody. And if someone tries to get in you know what to do right?” he asked. Sofia’s were suddenly wide as she nodded to her father’s words.

“Alright, Sally will be here in 15 minutes. Sofia be careful, Dad and I will be back later ok?” Billy said as he leaned down and kissed her small head. She nodded and took the blanket and cell phone her father gave her. It was one that called five different numbers; Teddy, Billy, Kate, Tommy, and 911. She knew how to use it and both men hugged her tightly before leaving her wrapped in her blanket on the couch. Billy changed them into their suits in less than a second and soon they transported to Times Square. The first thing Billy noted was the strong smell there was that made him feel like he was suffocating. He immediately pushed it away and enclosed Teddy and himself inside a protective sphere. As soon as he looked around he noticed they were surrounded by strange red fog,

“What is that?” he asked. 

“I don’t know, maybe they’re trying to open up the way and they haven’t arrived yet?” Teddy asked. From a distance they could make out the mutant army containing the whole thing in a shield a few of them were probably holding together. Kate was with them and so was Tommy. Billy began looking around and trying to spot anybody or anything. Apparently all civilians had been moved out so there truly was nothing else. 

“Wait, so why don’t we just suction the gas out?” Teddy asked. Suddenly there was an ear shredding shriek of metal bending and rock crumbling. They turned and watched as suddenly Times Square began to twist and lean forward, hanging from just a few bindings. 

“Is the gas doing that?” Billy asked incredulously.

“I don’t think we have time to find out.” Teddy growled. Suddenly the whole electric structure began to fall forward and towards the two men. Billy had it under control and managed to hold it in place but as soon as he did the ground around them began to grumble. Explosions were heard as if from far away. Kate who was nearby knew better than that and quickly began screaming towards the two men,

“Take cover!” She yelled. Billy and Teddy heard this just as an explosion gave off near them. Billy embraced Teddy and made the strongest field around them he could make. Many more explosions gave off, at least 6 in total, the ground rumbling and screams could be heard nearby. All Billy could see as the whole structure collapsed in them was how suddenly, everything was red.

…

Sofia sat silently in the couch, staring at the TV where the camera could only stare from far away as Time Square collapsed. Her eyes were wide and she was taking in every bit of information. She knew her parents were ok but she wondered about the other people and about Tommy and Kate. She hoped everything went well and that they could come home and watch the movie. She liked movies, at least the ones her parents showed her. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Sofia was silent for a moment. She had put the TV on mute as she always did when she was alone. So she could hear everything. From every fly in the room to every car rushing by, she could hear her parents talk and even when they did those strange things called kisses. She tried to listen for Sally’s keys with the little eight ball key chain connected to it. Hear her sneakers against the rug in the hall, the sound of her heart and the way she breathed. But it wasn’t there. So she sat silently and ignored the knock. 

Suddenly it was there again, a bit more urgent this time. Sofia’s heart began to race but she kept her brain working. She sniffed silently, taking in everything around her and trying to smell Sally’s perfume and the smell of cookies she always brought and her bubblegum mint she always chewed. It wasn’t there either. Sally wasn’t there, and someone wanted to come inside. Sofia was as silent as a mouse as she slid off the couch with the phone held tightly in her hands and tiptoed lightly towards her room. There was a mall trap door where she could duck inside until her parents got there. It was lockable from inside and they had practiced a few times what to do if Billy and Teddy were gone and she needed to hide. The little brunette girl slowly crawled over to her door that was open thankfully. And just as she was about to walk in there was a loud thud on the door. She froze and looked up towards the front door that suddenly looked frightening to her. There was silence, and then… there was gas hissing from underneath the door. Sofia was in her closet and in the trap door in record time. She locked it from inside and huddled in a corner. She grabbed her tail and held it with her right hand and bit the tip with her mouth, a habit she had when she was nervous or scared. She could hear it so well, the hissing of air as it began getting closer and closer. But suddenly it stopped. She focused on controlling her breath and calming her small heart that instead of beating in pairs of two beat in pairs of four. 

She then heard the steps; heavy, slow steps that moved around the house as if searching for something, and she knew what they were searching for. The steps neared her one or two times but eventually would search elsewhere. These moments were moments when she wouldn’t even breathe. She held her breath for as long as 15 minutes before she would carefully exhale and inhale deeply and wait once more. She was so still she couldn’t feel a thing. She could almost hear her own body working in the stress of the moment. Suddenly the steps stopped and there was silence. The silence stretched for an eternity it seemed, Sofia being extremely attentive and not even shifting a single muscle, afraid the slightest sound would give her away. Then, suddenly, there was a new smell. A smell Sofia had only encountered few times and never paid much attention to. Sofia then noticed the hissing sound once more, but it was leaving and soon it had faded away into the distance. But the smell remained and soon Sofia remembered what it was. Her little fingers clutched the device in her hands as she quickly searched for the “911” in the contacts. The smell she had picked up was smoke, and if the low crackling sound nearby her meant anything it meant one thing. Fire.

…

“Dammit!” Billy hissed. He teleported to yet another building to take a look at the situation; they had been trying to contain the gas but no matter how much they tried the explosions happened over and over again in different areas and red smoke would erupt. Teddy was helping in picking people who froze in the gas and pulling them out before they breathed it in anymore. He also tried to keep up large buildings and lift heavy thing out of the way. Tommy was doing so too but he was also trying to run in circles to create tornados that would at least pull the gas towards a single area. Kate was trying to spread the barrier the mutants had created so that it could contain the gas.

“Enough of this,” Billy hissed. He closed his eyes and chanted in his mind. He had stopped saying it out loud years ago and now with the constant thought he was able to do whatever he wanted. But he tried to refrain from using this power, for it usually meant he had shifted something in the reality to his will, and he hated doing that in such large scales. Suddenly the fog vanished. Kate sighed and Tommy sighed,

“You could have done that sooner!” Tommy yelled. Billy shook his head and floated down to where the other three heroes were,

“There are probably still a few more bombs ready to go off so we need to keep an eye out,” Billy said. Teddy agreed and Kate was already giving orders about how to attend to the wounded. Nobody had died but they still didn’t know what the gas contained and so they were bringing together the wounded and trying to get them to the hospital ASAP. 

“We need to put Time Square back up,” Tommy pointed out, “That is YOUR job, Billy.” He emphasized. Billy sighed,

“It looks like we have another anonymous enemy,” he said.

“God, I hate anonymous enemies,” Teddy grumbled. They were about to go help out the civilians when suddenly Billy’s phone went off. Everyone froze as they heard the ringtone, it was a police siren that was extremely loud and obnoxious and impossible to ignore. It was the ringtone that meant a call from Sofia. Billy snatched the phone quicker than he ever had before and answered,

“Hello Sofia? What’s wrong?” he asked. The signal was terribly and all he could hear in the other end was a strange cackling noise, “Sofia?” He yelled into the phone. Suddenly he heard small coughing and next thing he knew, two small words entered his ear,

“Daddy,” her small coughs once more, “Fire!” Billy’s eye widened as he jumped into the air and over looked the city towards where they lived. His heart almost stopped when he saw smoke rising from their neighborhood. 

“Oh my God, Sofia stay still, we’re coming!” He yelled into the phone. Billy shot down and grabbed Teddy and Tommy by their arms and before they could complain he had transported them right in front of their apartment. They gasped. The whole thing was in flames.

“Holy shit! Tommy hissed. Firemen were already trying to put the fire out but there was something about this fire that was vicious and wasn’t giving up. Teddy and Tommy ran towards the building, Billy stood outside and tried to focus and think straight. He couldn’t magic her out of there; if he tried to bring the box then she might get left behind and unprotected. Billy then does the only thing he knew he can do without hurting his daughter. He makes it rain. He makes it rain huge and heavy droplet and hundreds of them just pour onto the buildings. The fire is definitely stopping but they live in the 10th floor out of 15, and the fire is till wild and loud in that area. Teddy and Tommy where bursting through the front doors and already halfway up the stairs when Tommy freezes and goes,

“What’s that smell?” Teddy stops for just a millisecond and lets the smell fill his nose. He can feel his eyes widen and his pupils dilate. Tommy whirls around to look at him,

“Move!” He screams just as he speeds away upwards and just as a huge wave of fire engulfs Teddy from behind. He screams in pain and feels as he is pushed back and through the wall of the building. He feels himself fall and then freeze suddenly in mid air. Billy has him, but the look on Billy’s face is far from relieved. Teddy’s flesh is burned and he can feel it ache and sting but his mind is elsewhere. Tommy. 

The speedster ran so fast upwards that the fire is left behind, but he knows he can’t slow down even one bit. He punches his way through the main door of the apartment and for a millisecond he gasps because the whole place is in flames. Not a single corner is not on fire and now he is really panicking. He bursts into Sofia’s room and sees as the closet is like a huge fireplace with all her beautiful little dresses bursting into colorful flames. Tommy can hear the fire coming and so he dives in and rips the trap door open with all his strength that he had forgotten he had. He reached in and sure enough felt the little girl in his arms. He then preys that Billy hasn’t gone in sane or fainted and heads for the window. The building explodes behind him just as Tommy bursts through the glass window with the child in his arms. Sure enough, Billy catches them just in time and also manages to keep the explosion of the building contained. Teddy is already healing very well and he limps over to where Billy places Tommy, right in front of himself. 

“Sofia! Sofia are you alright?” Billy asks in horror as he takes the girl into his arms, Teddy right beside him. But as they take her from Tommy they freeze. “Sofia?” Billy whispers. Billy takes a moment to realize two things; first of all, Sofia is shivering and shaking in a way that resembles a seizure, and second, half of her body is completely and entirely covered in little white rocks. They seem to have erupted from her skin like bubbles, covering everything, but they felt cold and hard as white stones. But the second it takes him to realize this is the moment that it takes Tommy to grab her back and run to the ambulance.

“Take her to the mutant Hospital now!” Tommy orders as he places her on a stretcher two men were starting to take towards the building. The men turn and see the child, their eyes widen and soon they are rushing back to the ambulance and loading the shaking little girl into the large vehicle. Billy snaps out of his trance when Teddy shakes him,

“Sofia?” He whispers as he realizes that the ambulance is pulling away. “Sofia!” He yells. Before he can react Tommy is already pulling both him and Teddy towards their cars.

“We’ll meet her at the hospital dammit just keep your shit together Billy!” He screams. They all get into the car and Tommy drives, of course. Billy is sitting in the passenger seat with his face in his hands and Teddy has a stunned look and is lying in the back waiting for his wounds to heal. Tommy focuses only on the road and manages to get there even before the ambulance. They carry Sofia out of the ambulance and run her inside where doctors wait. Billy and Tommy leave the car and Teddy slowly gets out at the best of his strength. They run in and try to ask what is wrong but the doctors say they don’t know and that they have contacted Dr. Crawlyn and that he should arrive soon to see the patient. Billy tries to say something but Tommy holds him back, with a single look he tells Billy the truth, there is nothing they can do. They sat down at the waiting room, suits and all as Teddy finally arrived. As soon as Billy looked up he felt his stomach churn, Teddy’s face was covered in tears and he saw as he shifted out of his green form and sat next to Billy. With a wave of hands they were in normal clothes and Teddy buried his face into his hands.

“What went wrong?” he cried. Billy shook his head,

“I don’t know,” he whispered back, “I don’t know.”

“What if we lose her? What if fire was her only weakness?” Teddy asked suddenly. Billy wanted to punch him for saying it out loud. Once Teddy had said it the fear of that seemed much more real and possible. Both men embraced and realized how helpless they feel. Teddy can’t do anything and Billy can’t magic her into health. They are helpless parents in a hospital, with their little girl inside there in some room under who knows what kind of treatment. The seconds go by, they turn to minutes and then to hours. But even so, not a single word is known about Sofia no matter how much they ask, and the more they wait, the more hope all three of them lose. 

…

It is three in the morning when finally a young girl in scrubs walks into the room and calls,

“Altman-Kaplan, is there anyone here by the name of Altman-Kaplan?” 

Tommy is first to react and he does so by jabbing his finger into Billy’s side and standing up,

“Yes that would be us!” He says. Billy and Teddy are up and on their feet in just a millisecond and they hurry towards the young woman. She leads them through the hospital doors and down a few halls before signaling them into a door with the letters “Mutant/Alien Intensive Care” on them. Billy feels like he might throw up. They step in and sitting in a white desk is a very tired and old looking Dr. Crawlyn.

“Sit down boys,” he signals. The three men walk in and Teddy and Billy sit down while Tommy stands. 

“Is she alive?” Teddy dares to whisper. Crawlyn looks up at them from over his glasses and the silence that follows is enough to break Billy,

“Oh my God!” He yells as he begins to sob. Teddy’s blood drains from his face and Tommy looks like he is going to be sick.

“No, William, hear me out, she isn’t dead,” Crawlyn quickly says. All three men look up and seem to sigh in relief,

“She isn’t dead?” Teddy asks, as if afraid of believing it. The doctor sighs and rubs his eyes with his wrinkled fingers,

“If I must be entirely honest with you, I have no utter idea.” The old man says in a defeated tone. 

“What do you mean you don’t know? Is her God damn heart beating or not?” Tommy hisses. 

“I can’t tell; I cannot hear it from the outside the thick tissue.” The doctor explains. Billy, who had finally managed to pull himself together managed to look up with red eyes,

“Thick tissue, you mean the white stuff on the left half of her body?” Billy asks in a quivering voice. The doctor nods,

“Yes well, I think the best way to explain this is to tell you what happened.” The doctor says with a sigh, he sits up so he can lean forward on the desk better. “I arrived a little after they had called me and they had already tried to stabilize her. The problem was that they had done all the stabilizing through the right arm since there was no way of going through the hardened tissue. We put in the IV’s and I realized that no matter how we tried to tranquilize her or how we tried to put her down she kept on shaking and convulsing. We even tried to induce her into comma at one point because she was in such critical condition and even then nothing! Finally I had a ridiculous idea that if we didn’t want her to slowly die in some kind of mental trauma we had to either take the tissue away or finish covering her up. We tried to reach the tissue from underneath the skin and realized it had penetrated beyond just the outer layer of skin and there was no way to remove it without causing incredible damage.” As the doctor explained Billy looked paler and paler, Teddy was staring at the doctor intently, his hands closing into fists and unclosing in his anxiety, and Tommy was standing behind both of them, holding himself up by placing his hands on the back of their chairs. The feeling in his stomach made his body feel sick. 

“We did the last resource, we covered her up. We raised the rest of her body to higher temperatures until the white tissue erupted and she stopped moving. We tried to take her pulse, we tried to see if we could get her to give us any life signs but we can’t reach her. I don’t know if I’ve saved her or if perhaps… I… I’ve killed her!” At this point the doctor looked like he was ready to cry himself. Billy has his face buried in his hands and is heaving deeply, Teddy is still as a statue and Tommy turns around and walks around the room, his hands running through his hair once in a while. They say nothing for a few minutes and just let the whole thing sink in. Finally Billy looks up,

“What do we do now,” he asks with a hollow expression. The doctor shakes his head,

“We wait, and we try to get to her as much as we can. I will keep her here for as long as necessary until something happens.” The doctor says.

“And if not?” Tommy hisses from the opposite side of the room. The doctor sighs and shakes his head,

“If not, then I’m sorry,” he finally says. Teddy, who seems to have gotten over the initial shock, looks up and asks,

“Can we see her?” Teddy asks. The doctor nods and stands up, everyone follows him as he steps out of the room and towards the back of the building. They pass by many rooms but finally make it to one in particular that Crawlyn enters. As they follow they feel their stomach’s sink, there is a mummified version of Sofia lying on the bed, as still as death. Billy walks up and places a hand her now frozen white on,

“Oh, Sofia,” he whispers. Crawlyn leaves them and tells them they should leave in half an hour, which is the most he can let them stay. The three men just stand in silence around the small girl, their expressions somber and sad. They left after half an hour and went home in silence. Nor Billy nor Teddy slept a single hour that night.


	7. The Cocoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In times of grief, sometimes we just have to wait for a miracle.

Seven days. That amount of time is more than enough to drive a man mad. And that is what everyone feared as Billy sulked in their new apartment. They had been given an apartment far away from their old one to avoid Billy looking out and catching view of the burned old place. One time he became so upset the power went out in all of Manhattan. Teddy was also on the verge of losing it; he was being attacked from all sides. His husband was in depression again and everyone was counting on him to keep him from doing something stupid, not only that but his little girl, his little curly haired girl that was slowly resembling Billy more and more and was everything he had ever dreamed about in a child, was in the hospital, currently the biggest living metaphor of Shrodinger’s Cat as she lay underneath the thick tissue that had covered her during the fire. She could be dead or alive, and perhaps they would never find out. And so, it was the seventh day since the incident when they got the call. Billy stopped answering calls since the dreadful day and Teddy was lying down, sulking in his own thoughts and with no care to go answer. It ringed seven times before it died out and it was silent once more inside their apartment; just the sound of the wind outside and the streets of New York that seemed heavier than they had ever been before. Suddenly it rang again and once more they let it die out, every ring echoed into the apartment and seemed get lost in it, as if the place was so immense and empty that there was nothing that stopped the sound from traveling. Once again it was silent and Teddy let his eyes lids fall over his tired blue orbs, he just wanted to sleep. Then perhaps tomorrow he would wake up and Sofia would be in her room getting dressed for school, or maybe even in the kitchen helping Billy with breakfast even though all she did was open the eggs over the hot pan as Billy held her incredibly carefully. 

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! The phone went once more. Teddy’s eyes shot open and he lifted himself from the couch in a single movement before he snatched the phone in his hands and almost crushed it into his ear,

“Hello,” he forced out. He had barely finished saying that one word when Crawlyn’s voice ripped through the air,

“She’s alive!” He yelled. Teddy froze, there was a suddenly silence that was filled simply by his breathing and the sound of his disbelief beating against his ears,

“What?”He asked once more,

“The tissue dissolved this morning and we found her, she’s breathing but she’s in a very deep sleep. Now I want you both here ASAP because as soon as that child wakes up after being trapped for 7 days straight then her parents better be here to receive her! I expect to see you soon.” With that Crawlyn hung up and Teddy was left with his jaw open but no words coming out. Before he could even think twice about what he had heard he said a single word,

“BILLY!” 

…

Both men transported directly into the hospital, startling a few people and causing an intern to trip back and land on a big potted plant that then fell over and shattered into pieces and dirt. 

“Sorry!” Billy yelled as he made a gesture with his index finger and the pot stood up and brought itself together as if it had never shattered in the first place. Both men raced down the hall towards intensive care and then towards Sofia’s room. They burst through the door and gasped. Before them was a huge mess of the strange white tissue, but it was soaking in a deep black and blue muddle of blood that dripped off the sides of the bed. Various doctors were working on cleaning it up with extreme care; one of them looked up,

“Both of you! Out! This could be toxic!” The doctor yelled through his protective mask. Billy made a sound that was between a gasp and a sob as he was pulled back out the door by Teddy. He wrapped his strong arms around Billy and began whispering soothing words and the Sorcerer Supreme buried his face into his husband’s chest and began breathing heavily.

“Over here,” the familiar voice said suddenly. Both men looked up to see Crawlyn standing down the hall of where they were, “We moved her to get her out of that grotesque mess. She’s right here,” he said, pointing at a room that was right beside him. Both men ran over as soon as their brains understood what the old man had said. But before they could arrive the doctor stopped them,

“But you need to listen to me first.” He said, “First of all, yes she is alive. But there is something else,” he said.

“Crawlyn can you explain this after I’ve seen her!” Billy almost hissed, his hands balled up into fists. Crawlyn shook his head,

“No, listen to me please. The tissue she was in wasn’t a defense system, not exactly, it was a cocoon.” He said, “What I mean to say is that she’s different. We pulled her out and let me tell you that if she didn’t look precisely human before then she doesn’t look human at all now.” He stated. Teddy looked down at the doctor, his expression confused yet understanding. He didn’t understand how on earth such a thing could happen in just 7 days but all the same he understood that they HAD adopted a UA child and in all honesty he was surprised his daughter had not shown any more “non-human” signs. His thoughts ceased as he felt Billy’s fingers touch his own and hold his hand. Billy seemed more collected than usual. 

“Just let us see her, it doesn’t matter if she looks like a friggin carnivorous insect, she’s still our daughter and we love her.” Billy murmured. Crawlyn smiled weakly, this week must have been incredibly harsh on him, Teddy thought. The old doctor walked into the room he had been standing in front this whole time and allowed both men to follow. The silence was thick, almost as if it was weighing down on them like a thick vapor that had entered the room. But Billy and Teddy paid no attention to it; they paid attention only to the small figure that slept peacefully under the covers. The first thing they noticed was the hair. It was the same huge curly hair, but it was no longer that deep chocolate brown it used to be. Now it was a deep oily black. Both men stood still for a moment but not a minute had gone by before Billy walked forward with security. Teddy followed just a second after. Billy watched as his daughter had pulled the blanket over her face with her little hands and saw how the thin sheet rose and dipped with each of her little breaths.

“Sofia?” Billy asked softly, reaching his hand forward. Suddenly the little body froze, the little hands slowly lowered the sheet and the couple felt their hearts stop. 

“Daddy?” Sofia asked innocently. Her voice was so different; it was hoarse and sounded as if it were sore, raspy yet small. No longer did big brown eyes look up at him, but now there were lime green orbs that stared back with a deep black pupil in the middle. And her skin, oh her skin. It was covered in white scales that reached every corner. She was the color of snow, or even whiter if that was possible. Her little hands had tiny claws and he could see as she smiled at her parents (she was so happy to see them) that her teeth were no longer little white teeth; instead there were sharp little fangs. Her eye brows were also pitch black and it was so contrasting, seeing the white scales against the black hair and the green eyes. But Billy didn’t care. All he could see was the happiness in those eyes and how those small arms reached up to him and he didn’t care. He reached forward and embraced the small body, his hands wrapping around her as they did before and pulling her up against his chest.

“Sofia! Oh I missed you, I missed you so much!” Billy said as he embraced her, her little hands and legs wrapping against his torso. He could feels tears swelling up and he buried his nose in her hair,

“Dad!” She said as she reached for Teddy, her green eyes falling on him now. Teddy smiled and embraced both of them with strong arms.

“I’m so glad you’re alright,” he said. Suddenly Billy’s shoulders were shaking and Tedd was smoothing his brunette hair with his hands and telling him everything was alright. Sofia became worried and began telling her daddy not to cry and that he shouldn’t be sad. But Billy still cried and all his tears got lost in the pitch black curls that belonged to his daughter. Crawlyn could only smile as he saw the small alien being loved just as if she had never changed. Teddy looked down and pointed out that Sofia’s tail had finally grown out her arrowed point and began teasing that all she needed to do was grow horns and then she would be a little demon. Sofia asked what a demon was and Billy managed to dry his eyes and laugh at the question. He and then began telling her how much better she looked in scales and she giggled. She had long ago noticed she was different than before but even then she didn’t seem to care. She was just so happy to see her parents. That night they were excused from the hospital but promised to call in the morning to tell how Sofia was doing. That night they ate and went to bed at a reasonable hour. That night Billy and Teddy slept in longer than they had in months.

…

It was 3 am, and both Billy and Teddy were still sleeping within each other’s embrace as their little girl lay between them both. Last night had left them so exhausted and happy, they called in and explained to Kate and to Tommy that Sofia was alright and Tommy even managed to run over and hug his “favorite niece” as he liked to call her. Even though Sofia had caught on to the fact that she was indeed Tommy’s only niece, but she still beamed at the compliment. Tommy hadn’t panicked when he saw Sofia, Billy had explained what she looked like through the phone, but he was still surprised at the child’s new look, if so to say. But it was now 3 am, and Sofia hadn’t done as much as blinking the whole night. She couldn’t sleep, she had not been able to sleep since she had been taken out, and she had closed her eyes and pretended, for she had no idea where she was. Then her Dad and Daddy had come and she was so happy she could barely hold still. Now they were home and she was sleeping right between the two people she loved most in the world, (followed closely by Tommy and Kate, of course) but even in this warmth and happiness she couldn’t bring herself to close her eyes for longer than a few minutes. She couldn’t remember anything. She could remember as far as when she was waiting for Sally, and then it was all a mess of panic and fear and confusion. Her hearing had improved even more, before she could hear everything inside and right outside the building they were in, now she could hear blocks down and even in buildings far away if she focused. She heard so many footsteps and breaths and heartbeats and doors opening and closing, everything. TV’s, things boiling, water running, fingers on computer keys, talking, knuckles cracking, dogs scratching their ears, children crying, people laughing, the sound of glass breaking, bottles being opened, the buzzing of electronics, sounds, noises, hums, echoes, words, voices, everything, everything was there. And she couldn’t ignore it. 

Then there was what she smelled. She could smell so much better than before, she could smell both her parent’s smell so well, the shampoo in Daddy’s hair, the traces of Dad’s cologne, the smell of the city that stuck to them, and then the smell of their skin. Smells she could trace out of a sea of people with a single sniff. She could smell the cat next door and all the people in the building, she could smell the different gases that floated around the building from each car, he could smell the bitter smell of the drink a man was having on the floor above them and the smell of heated up noodles from the kid downstairs who was still up watching a movie, a movie with lots of music, she could hear it. Everything was buzzing and alive and Sofia couldn’t push it out of her head. And her eyes! They could see every corner of the room! The darkness was not as dark as before. Before she could look around and still see all the shapes but even now she could see colors and shapes and then there was something else. There was something else she couldn’t quite explain, something between her stomach and her head and her eyes. Something that contracted as she looked around her, as if there was some sort of dim green glow around everything, it was much larger around Dad but it was very bright around Daddy. It was something she saw yet she could hear it around her too, it was different from every other sound. It buzzed in a way she couldn’t compare to anything else. And she could feel it, she could feel how near it was and she could feel how it made her own insides buzz. What was this? What was it that she saw? All these questions mumbled up in her head and she couldn’t seem to push them away, and so, in what seemed like just an hour, the sun was up. From then until her parents woke, it seemed like just another hour. Daddy shifted and sighed, which caused Dad to open his blue eyes, which Sofia could see every detail of the iris, and smile as he looked down at Sofia. He reached over and hugged her to his chest; she accepted the cuddle and put her tiny arms on his enormous chest. She could hear his chest so loudly it was almost painful, but the thought that it was her Dad’s heart made here smile and feel calm. 

“Good morning Sofia,” Dad mumbled. Sofia smiled and suddenly she felt the strange green energy shift behind her as Daddy woke up.

“Oh, you guys are already awake?” Daddy asked with a smile. He shifted over and hugged both of them, “How do you guys feel about fried eggs and toast?” he asked. Sofia looked up before he had finished that sentence,

“Yeah!” Sofia chirped in her new, strange voice. At this both men smiled and they all got out of bed. As Sofia brushed her teeth with as much energy as any other day, both men were in the kitchen fixing up breakfast, Teddy excused himself for a moment to go call Crawlyn and tell him Sofia was fine and had a good night’s rest. As soon as he made it back to the kitchen he noticed Billy leaning over the sink with the coffee mug in his hands, but his posture was still and slanted. 

“Billy?” Teddy asked in a soft tone. William sighed and shook his head,

“It feels like she never left, yet…” he paused, “What do we do if it happens again?” Teddy felt his stomach sink. 

“What do you mean?” Teddy asked carefully,

“Teddy, I was so close to a break down just yesterday, just last week. I mean, when in reality she was alright, she was just phasing and the thing is we didn’t know! What if one of these days it happens again and we don’t know if she’s alive or dead!” Billy hisses. Neither of them wants Sofia to hear them but Billy has to say something.

“Then we stick through it,” Teddy stated simply. Billy shakes his head,

“What if we can’t take it?” Billy asks, “What if I can’t take it? What if I’m scared that I can’t raise this girl because it’s too much? Right now it isn’t but Teddy, what if it happens again? I thought about it all last night and what happens if it happens for longer, a whole year of her in some kind of cocoon, I don’t think I can…” Billy was starting to raise his voice and Teddy suddenly slapped his hand over Billy’s mouth. They could hear the water running in the shower where Sofia was right then, he sighed in relief.

“Listen to me Billy,” Teddy hissed, “I don’t care if you can’t take it. If you want to drop out of this, then go ahead and do it. But I won’t leave that girl; you saw everything we went through to get her! She is alone and she needs people that understand her, people that can raise her like us. And you know what, if my mother was able to raise me singlehandedly then I can raise her alone too, but God knows I don’t want to raise this child with anybody but you Billy. This isn’t something you can run away from. You can’t run away from the child that is PERFECT for us, and if you do then you can be sure I will stay here for her, do you understand?” Teddy finished with absolute security. Billy was silent as he stared back at his husband,

“I understand,” he murmurs. And with this Billy turned around and went back to the fried eggs that have turned slightly harder in the yolk because they were forgotten in the mist of the argument. Teddy was silent as he stared at the back of his husband and finally sighed. He left the room to change, with nothing other than anger at the bottom of his stomach and relief in his heart, knowing that Sofia heard nothing of that and hopefully Billy will have come to his senses after breakfast. 

In the shower, Sofia sits staring blankly at the wall in front of her. She is still as a stone and her eyes don’t blink. The water runs down her scales and her black hair and the bottom of the tub is cold against her rough skin. Her tail is motionless as she replays the whole thing in her head over and over. She feels her heart is heavy and her stomach is sinking, for she has heard every single word her parents just spoke, and they were louder than everything she had heard before combined.


	8. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps things are not what they seem, and the first to find out are always the kids.

Two Years Later

It is a Saturday night and Sofia can feel the lightning and thunder far away. It lays beyond the clouds and behind the darkness of the night, but she can sense it pulsing in her scaled body, slowly she slides out of bed and sneaks to the window where she pushes it up silently and slides out. Her parents are sleeping soundly, both of them incredibly tired by the long day of work they had had. Sofia doesn’t remember when it started, probably after she had changed, but she had stopped sleeping all together. Her constant naps had just stopped and all she did was stay awake during night time and think. Finally one day she built up the courage to look out her window, which then led to her sneaking out and looking out from the balcony. This led to her jumping to the nearest building and realizing how much stability she had with her tail and rough skin, she felt secure to continue going. And so every night she would sneak out and run around, see what the city was, find those noises she could not identify and memorize them. She would explore. She remembered one time she found a young boy being beat up in an alley. She didn’t know what to do, she couldn’t wake up her parents, they would be so angry at her! And they probably wouldn’t get here in time. Sofia had to muster up all the courage and bravery she had to drop down in the alley and approach them. She could still remember her heart beating and how the older kids stopped kicking the poor boy and looked up in the dark towards the strange white creature crawling towards them.

“What the…” one of them began. But before they could get a closer look she spread her arms and raised her tail, her scales rising up like fur standing on a cat’s back. Her pupils turning to slits as her view narrowed on the largest man of the group and she exposed her fangs. She hissed at them and for a moment they were pale, but they didn’t move, they didn’t retreat. Sofia began to panic and so as soon as she realized this she screamed at them. She still doesn’t know how she did it but she remembers how the strange sound she emitted ripped through the air and all four of the young men scrambled away screaming like little sissies. She settled down and looked at the boy, he was barely 14 and was staring at her with large eyes. Sofia stepped back and let her eyes go back to their normal roundness and her body go back to its calm state. She waved her hand forward,

“Go,” she said. The boy still lay there looking at her with wide eyes, suddenly she heard sirens and she knew she must leave. She began to turn around when suddenly she heard the boy’s voice,

“Wait!” he yelled, she turned around and looked at him, he smiled at her, “Thank you,” he managed to croak out. Sofia then scrambled up the nearest wall and managed to run away as fast as she could. Every time she remembered this scene and remembered that boy Sofia smiled. And so she went out every night from that day. But tonight was different, today was supposed to be the biggest electrical storm in the last 50 years in New York. Sofia slid out and surely enough it was pouring outside. And so she did her routine of jumping to the next building and running off towards the center of the city. Everything was closed and people had been warned about this being such an immense storm, but the Altman-Kaplan simply slept in peace, knowing that if it got to harsh then Billy would protect them. Sofia crawled on all four, she realized this to be easier since her back was so flexible and she seemed to crawl around much faster than she walked. She almost looked like a cat as she ran towards the Stark building that towered over the city. If she wanted a good view of lightning then that was the place. She got nearby and waited, not wanting to alert the people in that particular building of her presence. And so the electricity began. 

Lightning began falling around the city, strong and fierce, the sound that followed just as thrilling and vibrating through Sofia’s whole body. She stood up on her hind legs that were now longer, she had grown after all. And so she lifted herself and reached towards the sky, her eyes wide in amazement as the electricity sprang in every direction. That strange green light that she saw, the strange feeling that came with it, all of it was in vibrating in excitement. It was as if the electricity was calling her up, asking her to reach up for it, to catch it somehow. And that was precisely what she did. She reached up and suddenly the lightning came down, and it hit her straight in her hand. Sofia screeched as she cowered back and bright light blinded her. She managed to collect her thoughts and suddenly she froze. She had just been hit by lightning, yet here she was. She looked at her hand as saw as green electric waves ran up and down her arm. Her eyes widened. Suddenly the lightning began falling closer and closer to her. She looked around and suddenly she wasn’t afraid, if anything she was thrilled that the lightning seemed to be searching for her. She lifted her hands once more and once again the lighting hit her. She could feel as the electricity ran through her and suddenly became part of her. She felt as her scales throbbed with energy and her whole body engulfed it. And the electricity kept on coming, and she swallowed all of it. Never had she felt so full and so energized. She didn’t know how long it lasted, all she knew was the moment it ended and how she fell to her knees and suddenly it kind of hurt. She looked up and saw that the lightning had all left and she was alone on a roof nearby Stark Enterprise. She was suddenly aware of how cold it was and how her hair was no longer letting rain slip through it like oil, it was now getting wet and sticking to her face once more. She was confused but the moment she looked down she went pale. She slowly stood up, her eyes wide as plates and she looked at her hands. They were human, as if there had never been scales there to begin with. And so, Sofia took a single breath and gasped, right before a violent shiver ran down her back and she was suddenly out of air. She fainted onto the cold ground.

…

The lightning that broke through the sky illuminated the warm room in which the Kaplan-Altman couple rested. Billy’s eyes shot open as it did and within a few seconds he knew something was wrong. 

“Sofia,” he sat up suddenly, sweat running down the sides of his head and down his pulsing neck. Teddy groaned and shifted in his sleep as Billy stood from his bed. He quickly made his way out of his room and right across the hall to Sofia’s. He didn’t hesitate, the dread in his heart becoming heavier by the second. He swung the door up and stood in front of the dark room.

“Sofia?” he asked softly. Suddenly, as if the gods had done it on purpose, the room lit up once more as lightning shot across the sky and light poured in for just a millisecond. But a millisecond was all Billy needed to see the empty bed and the open window. His heart clenched,

“Teddy!” Billy yelled. He ran across the hall and pounced on his husband with force that made him shift into green and roar in surprise, “Get up damn it, get up!” He yelled as he shook him awake, Teddy stood up in a defensive position and in his green Skrull form, teeth bared, but the moment he saw it was Billy he relaxed, but only slightly.

“What! What is it?” he asked as he managed to place his hands on Billy’s and stop him from shaking him,

“Sofia is gone, she ran away and it’s raining and we have to find her!” Billy yelled as he stood up and with a single thought changed into his Sorcerer Supreme suit. Teddy took a moment to realize what it was that was happening before he was able to sit up,

“What?” he yelled after Billy. Billy teleported right in front of Teddy with his cell-phone in his hands,

“Oh my God Teddy she’s seven, SEVEN, how on earth can she defend herself out there when she’s just a child and she might…!” Billy hissed with fear in his voice. Teddy cut him off by reaching up and crushing their lips together and pulling Billy down into a hug. Billy seemed to want to pull away but eventually he melted into the kiss as he pressed closer to his husband and weaved his finger through his hair, lowering himself as his knees gave out. When they separated they stared into each other’s eyes, Billy was kneeling on the floor and Billy sat on the bed, bent forward slightly as he looked into the eyes of William Altman-Kaplan, and that last name still made him smile and flush at the idea that he was married to such an amazing man. He stared down at Billy, who was now red and flushed and with glassy eyes that threatened to break in any moment. 

“We’ll find her, but you have to relax, that way we have a better chance.” Teddy said with soothing words. Both men stood up and took a deep breath before Billy phoned up Tommy and Kate. Within an hour the whole body of Avengers, Mutant Army and former Avengers were being called up. Speed ran around the whole city along with Pietro. Wanda and Billy did their best in trying to get a full view of the city and find the young girl. Teddy led underground search in the subway meanwhile Kate and America, who happened to be in town, were traveling through air. Captain America had been called and so had Tony Stark and Noh-Var. The soldier was dressed up in less than five minutes and was already out the door and on his way to assist with mainland searching. Noh-Var actually started tracking the child down from her window frame and trying to find some kind of trail he might catch on to. Meanwhile, the millionaire living in his enormous Stark Enterprise tower was tired and lazy and really didn’t want to get up. It was midnight of a Saturday, for crying out loud, he knew he had to help with air search and that he hadn’t done superheroing in a while but still, couldn’t they do it at some other time? Tony sighed as he took a sip of his just made coffee and walked over to the window to admire the raining sky of New York. What a miserable day to go out, he thought. He scanned the buildings around him when suddenly something caught his eye. He squinted before he quickly ordered some binoculars which appeared near him through a teleporting plate. He snatched them and surely enough there she was, right in the tallest building right after his own. He quickly grabbed his phone and called up a group session on his phone. All parties answered within the second,

“Hey,” Tony said as he looked down at the little girl laying on the roof once more, “you aren’t gonna believe what I just found.”

…

Billy was the first to teletransport with Wanda to the building near Stark Enterprise. He gasped as he ran over and picked Sofia off the ground and gasped once more when he realized she was once again human. His eyes were in shock and he ran his hands over her cheeks and neck, one time to check her pulse and another time to see if it was really true. That she was truly back to normal. Billy and Wanda transported back to base where everyone was already waiting. Teddy ran forward to hold Sofia and the moment he saw her he was suddenly pale,

“What,” he asked softly. They lay the little girl on the nearest couch and determined she was probably just incredibly tired but even so they called Crawlyn up so he could arrive at the HQ. Wanda sat with her granddaughter’s head on her laps, running her delicate fingers through the hair that was so similar to her own. Wanda had meet little Sofia long before of course, but knew to keep her distance. Exposing Sofia to the world was something nobody wanted to do just yet, and so she let Rebecca Kaplan take in most of the job of being the Jewish grandmother who adored her little granddaughter even if she wasn’t human. Wanda appreciated it greatly. She also made sure of not letting Magneto find out, but of course the old man found out eventually. Surprisingly he had no interest in meeting Sofia; after all, she wasn’t his own blood.

Crawlyn arrived and he immediately ran over to take the young girl’s pulse. The parents stood nearby, but they were much calmer than they had been the last time.

“I’m just glad she didn’t lock herself up in another kind of cocoon,” Billy sighed. He ran his fingers through his black hair and noticed America and Noh-Var nearby, whispering into each other’s ears. He raised an eyebrow,

“What do you think those two are all about?” Billy asked Teddy and Tommy. Both heroes peeked over their shoulders to see the previously mentioned party, still in their deep thought and words. 

“Dunno, probably coming up with some kind of alien conspiracy about Sofia.” Teddy said with a chuckle. Suddenly Crawlyn stood up and walked over to the boys,

“I would like to speak to you two in private, if possible,” He said. Both men agreed and walked to a separate room. As soon as they took seats Crawlyn began to speak,

“I have good news and neutral news,” he explained, “First of all, Sofia is fine. She just had a tiny shock from transforming back, which means she should just be tired. Now, I spoke to Tony just now and he told me he could recover footage of what happened to her. I have a theory, and if this is true then I believe we should reconsider Sofia’s educational system.” He finished. 

“What do you mean by reconsider?” Teddy asked suddenly, “She’s in a very high level home school and is doing incredibly well. We might be able to have her graduate when she’s 14 if things continue at the rate they are going.” He said with a small smile, pride blooming inside his chest as well as Billy’s.

“Well, let’s wait until we see the footage and then…”Crawlyn was interrupted by Tommy who burst through the door at immense speed,

“OhmyGodBillyTeddycomeseethisSofiaisawarlockorsomething!” He said so fast only his brother was able to understand from having to deal with his hyperactivity for so long.

“Warlock? No, it can’t be; she’s immune to magic.” Billy said as he began speed walking out of the room and following Tommy who sped forward. Everyone in the room was staring up at a projection of the security footage that had captured Sofia’s incident. Billy’s eyes widened as he looked up,

“That idiot of Stark obviously doesn’t understand what inconspicuously means,” Crawly mumbled as he pushed his glasses up his nose and stared at the reoccurring footage. The footage itself was a bit startling. There was scaly Sofia, reaching up into the sky as if there was some sort of beacon pulling her in that direction, she seemed mesmerized before suddenly she was struck by lightning in her hand and she cowered back. It took her a moment before she looked at her hand and suddenly there was a slight green glow around her. Her eyes confidence once more and she reached up towards the sky. Suddenly, lightning crashed into her body once more, but she didn’t move, instead she took the whole impact directly and seemed as if her body ate up the lightning. But just as fast as her body had begun to thrive with the lightning did the light cease and they saw that with it went the scales. All of them retreating and disappearing into her skin. With this she tumbled backwards and suddenly she was shivering.

“Oh my God,” Billy gasped, his hand covering his mouth and his eyes wide. And so, she noticed her arms and she gasped, and just a second later she fell to the ground. At this the whole video repeated itself and there was silence in the room.

“She’s a conductor,” Noh-Var said suddenly. Tommy whipped his head back and stared at the Kree,

“Conductor, you think those men who lead orchestras swallow up lightning like my niece?” He said with a sarcastic look. Noh-Var almost snarled at Tommy,

“I mean that she conducts energy. It’s obvious, her body swallowed the energy up but she doesn’t know how to contain it, that’s why when the lightning stopped it just drained from her body and took her energy as well.” He explains as everyone sees the process happen again on the video. 

“So what are the scales for then?” Teddy asks, “You’re telling me our daughter grows out scales and a tail so she can conduct energy, why can’t she do that without wrapping herself in a huge cocoon?” He walked near Billy and placed a hand on his husband’s shoulder,

“Well,” America interjected into the conversation, “Maybe that’s her true form, and she just adapts to us because she wants to look like us. That’s probably why she looked semi human at the beginning,” she said. 

“Wait, so Sofia is a shape shifter?”Teddy asked suddenly. Noh-Var shrugged,

“I don’t think so, maybe? It would explain her changing, but it wouldn’t explain why her body transforms into the reptilian form only.” Noh-Var said. There was silence in the room as they rewatched the video once more,

“So what do we do with her then?” Billy asked suddenly. Crawlyn coughed lightly and looked up at the Sorcerer,

“Well, if your daughter has a talent, we might as well train her for it, right? It could be of use one day.” He explained. Billy felt as eyes fell on him and Teddy, waiting for an answer. Billy sighed and looked down at Sofia who was still in her grandmother’s arms.

“You’re right, we should,” He said, “But who could train her? She’s still a UA and we don’t know anybody with her power…. Do we?” Suddenly Noh-Var stepped forward,

“I can volunteer to train her,” he said. Tommy snickered,

“You? Since when do you have any experience with kids? Not only that, but UA kids.” Tommy dared. Noh didn’t even look towards the speedster,

“I am a master in Kree martial arts; they are specialized in training our bodies and their flow of energy. I believe it’s a start,” he explained. Tommy looked like he was about to go punch the Kree in the face but Teddy stepped forward,

“I think it’s a good idea, she should learn to control this before it gets out of hand.” He answered. The Kree nodded and Crawlyn seemed to silently accept the idea. 

“Her training will begin next Saturday in the HQ; I look forward to seeing you there. Do not be late,” The Kree said as he walked out of the room.

“Pfft, stuck up,” Tommy hissed. Billy sighed as he dropped onto the couch beside his mother,

“It’s been a long night,” Billy sighed. Wand smiled as she reached up to smooth her son’s hair,

“I know it has, but it’s been a good one. We found her,” she said with a smile, and Billy smiled back as he ran his own fingers through Sofia’s hair. She slept peacefully; completely unaware of the huge change her life had just taken.

…

“Did they find out?” the deep and silky voice asked.

“Yes, they found her and they deduced everything perfectly,” the younger voice proclaimed. He slid the stack of papers down the shiny black table where a gloved hand caught them perfectly,

“Isn’t it lovely when things work out as planned? It seems like things don’t always do so, but lately things have worked out fine.” The deep voice said with a hint of happiness, searching through the papers with ease,

“It is indeed,” the younger voice answered. 

“The Kree offered to train her?”

“Indeed he did,”

“Perfect, that leaves us how many years from now?”

“Eight years sir,”

“Alright, we will continue to monitor with care, you are dismissed.” The owner of the younger voice bowed and left the dark room. The deeper voice sighed and shuffled through the papers slowly until he reached a single picture of the child. She was so unaware of everything, how innocent. 

“I will see you soon my darling,” he whispered, “And I will tell you the whole truth, my daughter.”


	9. The Great-Grandfather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After five years, the strange grandfather figure finaly arrives. Whether for good or bad, nobody knows.

5 Years Later

“No,” Billy said to the too-happy looking Tommy who stood at the door with a tiny kitten in his hands.

“You can’t say no once she sees him,” Tommy counter attacked. Billy narrowed his eyes,

“You wouldn’t,” he hissed. His twin narrowed his eyes back,

“Oh, you just watch me,” he hissed. Billy sighed and rubbed his fingers against his temples,

“Tommy it’s her birthday, I know, but couldn’t you have gotten her something that doesn’t poop and eat?” Billy whined. Tommy stared at him with the same smile, not faltering,

“Uh, no,” he answered. He lifted the kitty so it was at eye level with Billy. The Sorcerer gave it the most not-amused face he had. 

“No,” Billy repeated once more as he crossed his arms in front of him,

“Come on Billy, even I can see your gayness melting inside of you as you look into the eyes of this little kitten.” Tommy cheered. This only made Billy look past the kitten and into Tommy’s eyes, he looked like a vein was about to pop out of his forehead. Tommy sighed and brought the kitten back to his chest,

“God you really have no heart,” he said as he walked in, Billy’s eyes on him the whole time, “But I’m still giving her the cat.” Billy let out a long and exasperated moan,

“God you haven’t changed since we were 16!” Billy yelled in annoyance. 

“You know you still love me,” Tommy called as he walked into the kitchen, “Oooo red velvet!”

“Tommy you put a single finger into that cake and I will make sure all 10 of your fingers get transported to different dimensions.” Billy warned. He looked up at the watch; Tommy had been first to arrive and soon other people would file in. They had invited friends and families to Sofia’s 12th birthday and Billy wanted everything to work out. Sofia hadn’t made many friends at school since they told her to try and stay low because she was still trying to control her morphing and that if she ever felt like she might lose control then she had to run to the bathroom and call them ASAP. So far no emergencies but this meant Sofia really didn’t talk much. And so when Billy asked her if she wanted to invite anyone from school she answered with a simple “no” and that was the end of it.

Someone knocked on the door. Billy ran over and let Kate and Noh-Var in, Kate was dressed in a casual purple dress and her hair had been cut extremely short but still had a long bang on the right side of her face. She had become more and more involved with the SHIELD part of her life and suddenly looks became a secondary thing. She worked more shifts and fought more battles than anyone else in the department. Especially in the beginning when Sofia had been just a baby that couldn’t even walk and required full attention of both men, Kate had offered to take their shifts all the time. She had promoted and promoted until suddenly she was an equal with the old Nick Fury who still wore the same angry face all the time. And even now that she was at the top she worked harder than anybody. But she still put time apart for her friends and was there for every step of raising Sofia. 

“How is my favorite weird alien mutant family?” she asked as she kissed Billy on his cheek and hugged him. 

“It’s good to see you Kate, glad you could make it,” he answered with a warm smile. 

“How can I miss my goddaughter’s birthday? And it’s 12! She’s growing up so fast isn’t she?” Kate said with a proud smile. When she let go Billy redirected his attention to the Kree,

“Hello Noh,” he said with a smile and offered his hand. The Kree smiled,

“Don’t salute me like this, William, let me hug you as a dear friend,” he said as he put down the gifts in his hands and then gave Billy a bone breaking hug which had the air stolen from him.

“Air, Noh, humans kind of need it,” Billy managed to wheeze out. Noh put Billy down and let him catch his air,

“Well, William, how is my apprentice? Is she meditating and practicing every night?” Noh asked with a semi serious face,

“Oh yes, she is, she hasn’t missed a single one. Of course some days she lasts longer than others but she’s very persistent.” Billy explained. Noh nodded,

“Alright, but for today we don’t worry about that, it’s a festive day!” he said as he picked the gifts up and walked over towards the table Billy had set up for them. 

“I see there aren’t as many decorations as last time,” Kate said as she looked around. In her last birthdays Billy and Teddy had tried to make it as colorful and childish as they could. This year Sofia said no word, but Teddy decided it was time they gave her a more mature ambience. 

“She is 12; we thought she might like a more mature party,” he said. Soon people began to arrive and the place was thriving with guests. Captain was there and so was America, Tony, Hawkeye, Thor and Spiderman (Peter Parker); all of them out of suit of course. Even Thor tried to dress casually. The Kaplans arrived and Billy hugged them warmly and thanked them for being there. Wanda and Pietro also arrived and both of them greeted everyone with big smiles. Wanda and Rebecca almost screeched like teenage girls when they saw each other and began talking about how Sofia was so big and how Billy and Teddy were doing a fantastical job at parenting. Billy smiled at the scene and warned his little brothers about being nice to their niece. Aaron was already 18, so he wasn’t too much the problem. Noah on the other hand was actually 15 and Billy knew by experience that a boy that age can be quite the evil older sibling. It neared the time of the day when Sofia was to be picked up from her swimming lessons and be brought home by Teddy. Billy had it all planned out, they would hide and as soon as Sofia entered they would scream surprise and hopefully not scare her into shifting.

And so when Billy saw Teddy’s car rounding the corner he told everyone to go to their places and hide. Everyone laughed at the idea but even so began searching for a place to hide. Captain found a safe place with Hawkeye and Aaron behind the sofa and Kate pulled Tommy, Rebecca and Jeff Kaplan with her into the hallway adjacent to the room where they were. Tony sighed and walked over to the kitchen joined by a fanboying Noah and a confused Thor. Spiderman latched onto the ceiling and Pietro hid behind one of the bigger pieces of furniture. Finally Billy and Wanda made themselves invisible in the middle of the room. There was complete silence. 

Downstairs Sofia was taking the elevator with Teddy a she held his hand and told him about her day. She had heard the racket all the way since they got out of the car but she decided not to bum it out for everyone and at least try to look surprised. They got off on their floor and Teddy walked towards their apartment calmly. She had to give him points for being such a good actor. Teddy opened the door slowly and Sofia peered into the dark apartment. She stepped in and as soon as she reached up and turned the lights on the place exploded with cheers.

“Happy birthday!” They all yelled. Sofia opened her eyes wide and screeched in happiness as she suddenly recognized Wanda standing in the middle of the room with her Daddy. People poured back into the room and they all congratulated her. Hugs and gifts and kisses and pats on her back. She loved this time of year, it was on this day that she realized how many people cared about her. 

“I don’t know of thou, by thy hunger roars and thy wish to eat this delectable meal which thou call red velvet now!” Thor beamed. Noah looked like he was going to faint as a result of his fangasm. Teddy was there in less than a second with the huge cake in his hands and they all began to sing. If you’ve never heard a genious miltimillionare, two speedsters, two warlocks, two archers, a Kree and a Kree/Skrull alien, a jewish family of four, a spider mutant and a super soldier sing happy birthday then let me tell you it has the power to destroy windows and thin glass but even more it had the power to make Sofia smile and giggle at all the different keys they were all singing in. Her ears were being pretty much tormented but her happiness overflowed all else. Her huge brown curls and square face made her look like Wanda, this was something the boys had never seemed to understand but they didn’t mind. She was beautiful just like that. She blew all 12 pieces out with a loud huff and everyone cheered. That was until suddenly there was a knock on the door and Sofia’s had shot up to look at the front door.

There was a strange sensation that fell over all of them at that moment. 

“I thought this was everyone,” Teddy commented. Billy nodded,

“It was,” he said, “Wait, Hawkeye did you invite anyone?” Billy gave him a warning look.

“Billy, as bad a person as I may seem I don’t invite hot dates to little kid birthdays, thank you very much,” Clint answered as-a-matter-of-factly. The knock was there once more and Sofia’s ears seemed to almost twitch at the sound. 

“Might as well go see,” Teddy sighed as he walked over to the door. The moment he opened it he froze and everyone stopped what they were doing as they looked up in shock.

“I seemed to have missed the best part; I hope I’m not too late, am I?” Magneto said from the door. He was dressed in a formal white shirt and black pants and he looked up with a small and content smile, he looked almost elderly and innocent.

“Father?” Wanda asked. Pietro looked like he could kill someone and Tommy sped forward to stand next to his brother.

“Well if it isn’t great grandpa Erik,” he mused, “After 12 years of not caring he decides to appear. It seems to go that way doesn’t it?” Magneto was silent for a moment before sighing,

“Can’t I see my great granddaughter? You all know how bad I am with these family things, I knew Wanda was keeping away so what help did I do?” he said. But even so everyone stared at him with angry eyes. All except Sofia who had no utter idea what was going on until she heard Tommy’s words,

“Great Grandfather?” she said out loud in her small hoarse voice. Erik looked past all the murderous glares and looked down at Sofia,

“Well yes, that would be me, I am Wanda and Pietro’s father.” He said with a smile. Sofia looked like she really wanted to get up and get closer, but something in the way everyone was acting kept her from doing so. William sighed and looked at Pietro,

“Does it bother you that much if he comes in?” he asked his uncle. Pietro shrugged,

“I’m not her parents, you decide,” he murmured as he tried to not look so upset in front of everybody. William felt as if a huge burden had just been set on his shoulders. If he let the old man in then Sofia would interact with him, and what stopped him from using her for his benefit? Would he just disappear after that and come back when she was 17 to ask her for help? Or was he genuinely trying to become a good figure as a great grandfather? William rubbed his index finger’s knuckle against his lower lip as he thought about what to do and he could tell the seconds were ticking and soon someone, if not him, would break it. 

“Alright,” Billy murmured, “Come in,” Magneto smiled once more and let himself as he shook hands with Teddy,

“Good to see you again Theodore, I see you’re doing a good job at taking care of my grandson and my great granddaughter,” he said. If this would have been a few years before Teddy might have started sweating in cold at the fact Magneto was holding his hand and thanking for something. But the now Captain Marvel didn’t falter one bit and made sure to express all his disappointed with a single look at the old man,

“Of course, it’s my pleasure,” he said with a forced smile. Erik came in and greeted everyone, most of them simply shaking his hand out of courtesy to the fact they were not allowed to get superhero-y around Sofia. Thor didn’t even flinch when Magneto tried to say hello to him, instead he stared down with his arms crossed and narrowed eyes. When he moved to shake hands with the Kaplans Billy thought he might have made the biggest mistake in his life, but Rebecca and Jeff were just as polite as the old man and seemed not to care at the least that one of the most powerful mutants in the whole multiverse was right in front of them. Aaron was more occupied trying to contain Noah’s immense fan feelings that were exploding as the Maximoff greeted the younger boy. Finally Erik walked towards Sofia who had been staring at him the whole time and analyzing his every move.

“Why hello there Sofia, happy birthday,” Erik congratulated as he sat on the sofa next to her. “You’re turning 12, am I right?”

“Yes, I am,” Sofia said in her most polite voice. Her brown eyes were looking deep into his own,

“Have you opened your gifts yet?”

“No, but that’s coming up next if you’d like to join us,” she said as she carefully picked her choice of words. Tommy suddenly jumped in his seat,

“Dibs on last!” he called. As soon as Tommy yelled this the tension seemed to clear. Erik continued to speak to Sofia and people brought their presents to the table where they would be opened after eating cake. Sofia gobbled up almost a fourth of the huge cake and Teddy and Tommy looked like they wanted to compete for fourths too but Billy reminded them that they still had ten more people and a demigod they had to feed. Thor smiled at this comment. As soon as the red velvet was gone they all proceeded to open gifts. Sofia started with Peter’s gift and was delighted to find an mildly professional chemistry kit inside,

“You’re fathers won’t stop bragging about how good you do science, I thought I might give you something to play with.” Peter joked. She thanked him and went on to her next gift which was purple and extremely badly wrapped.

“Hey, I tried,” Clint said as he raised his hands in defense. Sofia smiled,

“I like how it’s wrapped,” she said. She carefully opened the present and laughed when she saw a big purple football ball inside. “I don’t even know how to play!”

“And that is what we are doing next time you come to HQs,” Clint said with a smile. Billy rolled his eyes but Teddy seemed to like the idea. Next Sofia pulled Thor’s gift over and opened it. It looked extremely heavy and it was in a hard rock container and the moment she opened it her eyes widened,

“Woah,” she said as she held up the beautiful golden dagger,

“And that is going to wait until you’re 18 or older!” Billy announced as he pulled it from her hands. She pouted, 

“Aw,” she said but Thor simply laughed. 

“Can I have it until then?” Noah called. He was soon silenced by a look from his mother. The gifts that followed were a ridiculously expensive looking phone from Tony, a pair of fire and water proof red gloves from Wanda along with a red dress, a pair of hero running boots from Pietro that adapted to all feet size, a painting kit from the Kaplans and suddenly it was Kate and Noh’s turn.

“Here you go sweetie,” she said with a smile as she placed a kissed on her head. Sofia’s curls bounced as reached into the colorful bag and pulled out a black piece of clothing. She unfolded it quickly and stared down at it quizzically. 

“We’ve been developing it with Noh for a while, it’s a suit that allows you to shift and conduct energy without burning your clothes off.” Kate explained. Billy looked up at her with confused eyes,

“So it’s like a super hero suit?” Sofia asked excitedly. At this thought Billy’s stomach dropped. Sofia was only 12, and he had started being Wiccan when he was 16, which was four years from now. Kate knew this of course and so she corrected Sofia,

“No, it’s not resistant enough to be a hero suit; it’s just a suit for you to have so you don’t have to get naked to channel energy.”

“I see,” Sofia said softly as she looked the suit over. It was turtle necked and had no sleeves what so ever. It was a full body suit so the top was connected to the bottom. It stopped somewhere around her thighs and there was a golden line going through the middle of the suit that resembled the sides of a gear. 

“I love it,” she said suddenly, her eyes bright as her little pink lips spread into a smile that was barely contained by her round cheeks. Tommy looked like he was about to go get his gift when suddenly Magneto cleared his throat and pushed a small gift bag across the table. It was black and silver and Sofia stared at it as if were some kind of treasure. Billy flinched as he almost reached forward to grab it out of Sofia’s reach, but he knew not to do it. Sofia grabbed the bag carefully between her small fingers and reached into it. Everyone held their breath as if they expected her to screech in horror at whatever she found. But that was not the case. Instead she pulled out a small necklace with a neatly made silver M on it.

“You’re part of the Maximoffs, Sofia; you must remember we will be here for you.” Erik said with a warm smile. Sofia asked her Dad to put it on her and Teddy slightly reluctantly placed it on her neck. With this over Tommy sped out of the room and returned with the small creature in his arms,

“Happy birthday Sofia!” He almost sang as he held the little kitten out to her. Her eyes widened and she let out a muffled yell of excitement as he reached out and took the black cat into her arms. It was tiny and pitch black with big green eyes and a white spot on his forehead. 

“He’s like me!” she said haply, “What’s his name?”

“Oh, he’s Tomboy,” Tommy said quickly, having already thought about it, “And I don’t take no as an answer,”

“Ok!” Sofia chirped as she took Tomboy and began petting him carefully. After this the party proceeded with people going out in their respective little groups and talking while Sofia pulled her two Kaplan uncles along to play video games, the small kitten sleeping in her laps as she battled the older boys in Super Smash Brothers. She had been born a gamer, as Teddy liked to say, just like her Dad. As soon as the kids were out of view Magneto tapped Billy on the shoulder and asked him to take a breath of fresh air with his grandfather. Nobody failed to notice as both men stepped out onto their balcony and closed the glass door behind them. Billy leaned into his shoulders on the railing and sighed. 

“Are you here to tell me my daughter is part of your plan to bring back all mutants or something of that sort?” he asked with a slightly irritated tone. Erik smiled,

“No, I won’t abuse of her power like that.” He said softly. The old man walked forward and placed his palms on the railing of the balcony, “She’s a wonderful child you know, full of energy and potential.”

“I’m well aware of that, yes,” William stated, “That’s why I worry about her, many people might want to use her for what she can do.” He looked up at Erik with accusing eyes. Erik sighed and looked out into the dark New York sky,

“I’m here to warn you,” he said. Billy chuckled drily,

“Of course you are, how much time do I have before you kidnap her?” he mocked with anger,

“I’m not warning you about me,” Erik stated, “I’m warning you about her,” William seemed taken aback as his eyes met Magneto’s,

“What do you mean?”

“William you cannot ignore the fact that this child was found by you in the hands of another man. A man that was invisible to the Government and SHIELD and just about every other organization for his whole life as a villain. He is such a good villain that nobody knows of him, just a few with which he has tried to negotiate. I’m sure Theodore mentioned to you the man in the gas mask.” He said. Billy’s head shot up,

“What? The man who tried to kill all the children?” Billy almost hissed. Magneto almost chuckled,

“He’s quite the morbid man isn’t he?” he said nonchalantly. Billy growled,

“He almost killed Sofia and another group of kids,”

“William, don’t you see the irony in what I just told you?”

“No, truly not,”

“I just told you nobody knew of him. He worked so underground that not even you could track him with magic. Not because your magic would fail but because you couldn’t possibly know how he looked like or relate anything to him because of how vague he is. And suddenly, 12 years ago, you hacked into his facility and found him just like that. A facility that appeared in the radars out of nowhere, a facility that wanted to be found.” He finished as he emphasized the last four words clearly. Billy looked at him incredulously,

“He wanted us to find him?” he asked.

“I think he wanted to release his creations, if I must be honest, he probably knew that he could not possibly raise these children to their full potential and sent them out into the world. My worry is that he probably wants them back at some point. And this is where I am warning you William. From now until we know that Sofia can take care of herself we cannot leave her out of our sight. This man is incredibly dangerous, he could be around us right now and we wouldn’t know. He turns into any kind of gas, the attack a few years ago and the fire, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was him.” He stated. His deep brown eyes looking down into William’s, concern obvious in them,

“So you think he still wants her back?”

“I would not be amazed if that was so.” He stated simply. “This man is an enemy of mine and now he has made enemies with my family, she is not my blood Billy but I understand what will happen if anything were to happen to her. I will try to stay in contact, but most of it lies in your hands. Do not leave her unprotected,” his eyes were stern and demanding and Billy didn’t doubt a word he said.

“I understand,” he said. There was a long silence as both men stared back into the city for a few more minutes before deciding to head back inside. But as they were about to go back in Billy put his hand on Erik’s shoulder and smiled,

“Thank you,” he said. And so Erik smiled,

“You’re most welcome, and thank you for letting me in,” he said. Hey returned to the party in peace and just at that moment Sofia had ran to the bathroom with the excuse that she had too much soda. She didn’t pay attention to the questions her uncles asked about why she was taking Tomboy with her but she didn’t care, she ran and locked herself inside before she collapsed onto the floor, her shoulders trembling. She heard it all, she heard where she was from, and she had never heard her parents say a thing. She was part of an experiment of an evil man. She knew she was adopted, but she didn’t know she was created! Her parents were in danger, because there was a man who wanted to take her back. She was a danger, to everyone in this house, everyone she had come to care for. No tears left her eyes but she held onto Tomboy and stroked him as she tried to calm down. After five minutes of breathing and trying to calm her body as Noh had taught her, Sofia flushed the toilet and washed her hands before exiting the bathroom with a smile. A smile that didn’t leave her face until she was tucked into bed and she heard her parents fall asleep. I must be stronger; she thought to herself, I will be stronger. And with this thought, Sofia fell asleep.


	10. The Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sofia makes a friend, but as always with Sofia, nothing is simple, not even her friendships.

Three Years Later

Billy pressed against the flat metal surface as much as he could. He couldn’t remember how it came to this; he just knew there was no getting out now. Various blasts shot nearby him and he covered his eyes with his hand to avoid the small debris that collided with his body. He closed his eyes and analyzed the area that surrounded him. There was silence, something was wrong. Suddenly he heard a roar and that’s when he knew he was screwed. He whirled around just as Captain Marvel, yes Teddy, ripped the huge piece of metal straight out of the ground and held it over his head, ready to plunge it into Billy’s body. The Sorcerer Supreme murmured something quickly and flung the piece out of the shapeshifter’s grasp. This didn’t stop him. He placed a quick blow that hit Billy from in front and he felt as he skid back onto the harsh pavement. He was able to make himself levitate so the impact was not too harsh but even so he could feel the pain running through his legs and arms as he made brief yet harsh contact with the rough surface. He was barely up before Captain Marvel was above him again and preparing to hand a green fist. This time William didn’t think twice before summoning plants from beneath them that swallowed the Kree-Skrull hybrid whole. This would hold him off. Billy flew at full speed to where he had left his partner in battle. Sofia. The girl was having a one on one with Tommy in her alien form. She had grown in that form immensely and now she was almost the size of Captain Marvel himself, her curly black hair still flowing around her and her white scales thriving with green energy as she fought. Her suit that Kate had given her in her 12th Birthday still fit her perfectly and the black stretched across her muscles covered in hard scales.

It was incredible to see. Even if Sofia couldn’t physically move as quickly as the Speedster, her mind was travelling faster. Her hearing and senses knowing where he was before he could approach her and land a fist or kick. Every time he tried destabilizing her she would disperse into energy and appear nearby without as much as a scratch. Billy saw as her incredibly rapid movements pushed away all his attacks, she moved less than Tommy but her movements were practical. She lost no time or space as she defended herself. William felt as his magic was ripped apart and he turned to see a Captain Marvel hovering over him and plunging in his direction. Billy landed both feet on the ground and felt as his magic overcame his body and suddenly he was shifting shape as well. Captain Marvel was received by a black and red version of himself that received his fists with the same or more intensity than him. They pushed for a second before Teddy shrunk and began dodging Billy’s enormous hands. Of course, Billy had less experience being large. But he still had his magic. With a simple concentration he was able to repel the smaller version of Teddy from him. Suddenly there was a countdown of numbers,

“Five,” it began. Billy hurried forward and his fists met with Teddy’s, both of them looking into each other’s eyes and baring their teeth. 

“Four,” Speed began going even faster and Sofia began to feel as her defenses slowly began to falter. 

“Three,” Teddy shifted larger and fire began to burn around his arms. Billy gasped,

“Two,” Sofia locked her arms in front of her and concentrated as she felt Speed finally land a harsh blow on her side.

“One,” Both Billy and Sofia screamed as Billy created a huge defensive water wave that swallowed Teddy up whole and Sofia released an electrical wave that hit Tommy straight on. 

“Session, ended, both sides have tied. Training session over,” The voice announced. Billy sighed,

“Oh my goodness finally,” he sighed. The post-apocalyptic scenario they were in disappeared and was replaced by the well known paneled simulation room. 

“That was awesome!” Tommy and Sofia yelled. Tommy looked like he had been hit by lightning, his whole body covered in a thin layer of ash and his hair full of static. Sofia on the other hand looked fine, her scales almost speckles. Billy turned his attention to Teddy who was standing in front of him soaked wet,

“This is almost attractive,” William smirked. Teddy had to smile, but he reached forward and analyzed the light burns on Billy’s hand.

“Well, that’s more damage than I’ve ever done before.” He chuckled. All four of them began to head out, it was almost comical. Tommy covered in black, Teddy soaked, Billy sweating and covered in debris, and Sofia walking as she held onto the right side of her body where Tommy landed the kick.

“We should do this more often,” Tommy offered with a big smile,

“Once a month is enough, I don’t know how you guys keep on talking me into this.” Billy sighed. Sofia laughed,

“It’s because you love us,” she and Tommy said with mischievous smiles.

“Oh God you’re more like him every day!” Teddy whined with exaggerated despair. Sofia laughed in her strange alien voice. They had gotten used to seeing her like this, but it still startled Billy a bit to see his human and small 15 year old child grow into a 2 meter while reptilian alien with bright neon eyes with slits and fangs. Her legs had changed too, instead of running on her feet she had developed a tendency of walking around on her toes. This had led to her feet elongating and suddenly it was like almost like she had velociraptor feet. Of course, as soon as she went back to human she walked normally. 

They exited the room and Billy magicked them out of their clothes. All except Sofia, whom the magic just kind of floated over, she sighed,

“I’ll go change,” she said with a somewhat neutral tone. Her tall figure disappearing towards the locker rooms, leaving the three now clean and changed men alone,

“Is it me or is she suddenly bummed you can’t use magic on her?”Tommy asked. Billy shrugged,

“I don’t know; she didn’t care until recently. Maybe she’s starting to notice she’s the only one? Wanda and even Strange can’t seem to touch her with their magic. I’ve never seen anything like it, nor have they. Strange says someone might have put a spell no her before? But even that sounds ridiculous, because we would have sensed the magic opposing ours. We really have no idea what’s going on,” Billy sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair and raised his eyebrows a bit. Tommy shrugged,

“Well, I think she’ll be fine. I mean, she’s already becoming a pretty damn awesome alien warrior, and she’s hitting that point in puberty when she’s actually getting attractive. She’ll be over it before we know it,” Tommy answered. “And if not there’s always the simulations to keep her occupied!” he said as he smiled widely. Billy groaned once more,

“Also, something interesting happened this morning.” Teddy said. The twins looked up at him, “I was in a council with the Kree and Skrulls (how original right?) And they were talking about diplomacy and all that jazz when suddenly that new Kree Emperor says, ‘Dorrek VIII, but why are we worrying over future emperors if we had been told you have bared a child?’ and of course everyone just gasps at it like it’s recent news. And when I tell them that the child is actually a UA they all seemed to groan in disappointment. I swear all those people want is more reasons to fight,” Teddy finished as he shook his head. Tommy shrugged,

“I get them, I mean, what’s life without the battles and violence?” he asked with a big smile.

“Sometimes I wonder if leaving Sofia under your supervision was ever a good idea,” Billy sighed. 

“I’m here,” Sofia announced. She was in her human form now. She was rather short; Crawlyn said she would probably stop growing at five feet. Even so she had a good build. She had trained harshly these last few years and her body was toned to a healthy degree and her waist, even though it was not thin, was rock hard to the touch. She was big boned and wasn’t as skinny looking as most of her classmates. But she couldn’t care less, as usual; she just didn’t seem to make any friends at school and paid no attention to what the kids thought. 

“Alright, let’s hit the road,” Teddy proclaimed as he dug into his pocket and got his car keys out. All four of them left the HQ in silence and got into their car. They drove away.

“So Sofia, you’re graduating this year eh?” Tommy asked, he sat in the back with her,

“Yeah, I finish this year but I’m considering staying for post grad because of the AP classes I could take,” he answered. Tommy nodded in approval,

“But you’re also enjoying the hell that’s high school, right?” Tommy asked, “Do you even have a crush yet?” Sofia laughed,

“Yeah not really,” she mumbled. Teddy shot a look through the car mirror,

“What do you mean ‘not really’? Sofia?” he asked quickly. Billy turned around with a serious expression from the passenger seat.

“Sofia… we spoke about this,” he warned.

“Spoke about what?” Tommy asked,

“I know dad, no boyfriends until after I have a PhD,” Sofia said. Tommy gaped at her,

“No! I went to law school and I prohibit you from making this girl wait till she’s 25 or whatever ridiculous age she’s getting her PhD at before she gets some action!” Tommy yelled. Both parents shot him looks from the front seats as Sofia burst into laughter,

“Uncle Tommy! No!” she said between her laughter, “I just don’t like anybody right now. I’m not even sure if I like boys or girls or aliens,” she explained. 

“Maybe you just like all of the above,” Tommy said with a wink which made her crack up again.

“I can see you,” Billy warned, but just as he said that he turned to look at Sofia,

“But honey, what about that boy that you’re doing the project with?” he asked.

“Oh oh dirt! I knew you weren’t telling me something,” Tommy said excitedly, Sofia sighed,

“His name is Ivan,” she said,

“I don’t approve that name,” Tommy said quickly,

“He’s also ahead for his age but he’s 17, he’s real famous at school because he always blows stuff up in chemistry and it’s hilarious,” she explained,

“Ok I approve that so we’re back to neutral,” Tommy commented,

“And he’s really cool and we share most of our classes. He’s from Ukraine and we’re doing our European History project together. He geeks out a bunch about Nordic Gods,”

“Oh wait is he a nerd?” Tommy asked,

“He’s into videogames, like hardcore,” she said quickly, “Which is awesome, because I haven’t had someone challenging for a while.” Teddy almost turned around himself,

“Hey! That’s only because I let you win!” he complained. Sofia laughed,

“But I don’t know, he just seems like a really cool friend.” Sofia mentioned. Everyone jolted forward when Teddy jammed his foot into the break, all three men turning to face her,

“Did you just say friend?” Tommy inquired,

“… Yeah?” she answered softly, 

“So you have a friend now?” Teddy pressed,

“Yeah, so?”

“And he’s in your school?” William added,

“Yes, I have a friend in school, most people have friends at school,” Sofia answered with a tired tone. They grinned at went back to sitting down peacefully and Teddy got the car moving again,

“Well, you’ve got to admit Sofia, you’re not most people,” Tommy mentioned. At this comment she rolled her eyes, her family was just so uncanny, and she loved that.

…

“Daaaaaaddy!” Sofia yelled from her room, “There’s a ComicCon in California this weekend! Can we go?” she asked.

“No, we’re going to visit your grandmother this Saturday,”

“Which of both?”

“Kaplan,”

“Got it,” she answered. “How about Sunday?”

“No, I leave for a meeting and it’s the day before school, try to find something to do within the state alright?” Teddy yelled from his room where he was already packing his luggage.

“Alright,” Sofia answered simply. She was never one to throw tantrums and she wasn’t going to start at the age of 15. She rolled on her wheeled chair towards her desk and began typing her essay that was done next Monday. Both her long white legs were crammed on the chair and her tail whipped from side to side, her hands quick and precise. Her ears twitched slightly as she heard her cat arrive near her,

“Hello Tomboy,” she said as she removed her attention from the screen, “How are you today?” The cat meowed and Sofia picked her up easily, running her long nails through her fur carefully and making the small creature purr,

“How about your friend you told us about?” Billy asked from the living room where he himself was finishing one of his own papers. He had picked up writing research papers in Psychology after getting a degree in Columbia; it was a job he enjoyed on the side of Super Heroing, also it brought him and his human mother together much more.

“Which one?” Sofia answered,

“The Ukrainian one,”

“Oh him, what about him?”

“Won’t he want to go do something in the movies on Sunday?” Billy asked. “Because I heard a certain uncle of yours got free tickets to the new Thor movie this Sunday.” 

Billy heard as something almost tumbled over and suddenly Sofia crashed into the living room,

“Say what, I think my super hearing is playing tricks on me.” Sofia asked quickly, her bright green eyes wide with expectation. 

“You heard me, but the only way you’re going is if you invite this kid you talk about,” Billy announced. Teddy snickered from the bedroom and Sofia sighed,

“Really?” she asked,

“Yes really,” he said. Sofia groaned,

“Alright, but if he says no I’m still going right?” she asked quickly,

“Yes of course and please change out of your alien self when you’re at home, we don’t want you answering phones with a duo pitch.” Billy called after her. There was that familiar shifting sound and soon a human Sofia reached for the telephone. Tomboy meowed once more as she began rubbing against Sofia’s legs. She paused for a moment trying to remember if she even had his number. She sat down and searched on Facebook with no result; she quickly changed her mind and searched for him on VK, the “Russian” Facebook. Bingo. She dialed the phone quickly, she knew this would probably mean she would freak Ivan out completely but her needs to go see the new Thor movie were much larger than her self-consciousness. Before the third ring someone picked up,

“Hello?” a deep female voice with a thick Russian accent answered the phone.

“Yes, hello, my name is Sofia, is Ivan home?” she asked in fluent Russian. The voice seemed taken aback but answered anyway,

“Yes he is here, where are you calling from?”

“From New York, I am a friend from school,” there seemed to be an awkward silence but soon the phone was moved and passed to someone else. It was harder to use super hearing through a phone, the static and outer noises tortured her ears if she spoke for too long. 

“Da?” Ivan answered after a few seconds,

“Hello Ivan!” Sofia answered excitedly. 

“Oh, Sofia, hi, I didn’t know you spoke Russian so well,” he answered. “What’s up,” he seemed almost bored that she had called. Didn’t matter, Thor was this weekend and she was going to go one way or another. Ivan not going would allow her to indulge the movie with her favorite uncle or maybe herself; she liked both ideas immensely, 

“So I was wondering,” she said, “I got tickets to the new Thor movie on Sunday. Would you like to come?” she asked abruptly.

“What? The new Thor movie! How did you get tickets?” he almost yelled with his accent, all his “th” sounding like “z”. 

“I know people,” she said with a smile. 

“Wait,” he said suddenly, “Are you asking me on a date?” Sofia heard the word and not much came into her head. Unlike Ivan, who was starting to feel a little nervous and hesitant, she thought date would actually be an accurate word for meeting up to see a movie. That was what a date was after all right? Meeting up with people and doing fun things. She had never done it, but she could start now,

“Yeah, sure,” she answered, “So you in?”

“I uh,” suddenly there was an abrupt end to his speech when someone interrupted him in the background and Sofia heard Russian words here and there. Good, his mother was telling him it was a bad idea and that he should probably not go with this weird girl. Perfect, perfect, per…

“Sure, what time and where?” he asked. Sofia felt her stomach drop,

“Give me a sec,” she covered the mouth piece with her hand, “Daddy!”

“Mid-Town Mall at 3 pm!” he yelled back.

“Mid-Town Mall at 3 pm,” she answered. 

“Ok, see you there,” he said. Sofia said goodbye and hung up. She knew both her parents were standing at the door giving her smug smiles. She groaned,

“I hate you guys!” she yelled. Teddy and Billy snickered,

“We love you too,” Teddy answered sweetly,

“You have to get out there and do things Sofia; you’re 15, might as well go to the mall at least once a year.” He said. She sighed and slumped on her desk,

“Sure, whatever,” she answered dully. She rubbed her eyes. She just hoped thinks didn’t get awkward, all she wanted to do was watch Thor.

…

“So, you just set our daughter up for her first date, how do you feel William Kaplan-Altman?” Teddy asked. He had just finished packing and left his luggage in the entrance. Sofia was still in her room, probably napping since her sleeping habits had begun to pick up again. Tomboy was probably curled up besides her and napping as well. Billy looked up at his husband, strong muscle stretching over his thick body. The poor undershirt seemed like a bad excuse to put clothes on, for it didn’t hide a single corner of the blonde’s perfect physique. Billy snickered,

“I’m quite happy, she’s going to be alright and if anything you know she doesn’t really mind rejection. Besides, she seems more into the movie than the guy,” he answered. Teddy nodded as he made an approving face,

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he answered. Billy slid his glasses off and lay back on the bed, rubbing his eyes from being on the computer for too long. He felt as Teddy lay down next to him and placed his hand on his stomach.

“You know, when I was going through the stuff and packing today I found something interesting,” Teddy mentioned.

“What would that be?” Billy asked. He felt as Teddy placed a paper on his face, he opened his eyes,

“Oh wow! It’s been ages since this! This was when we beat Mother right?” Billy said as he looked at the picture and smiled. There they were, young and beaten up and happy; Kate was kissing Noh-Varr’s cheek and the Kree seemed strangely pleased and tired as he held an semi-conscious Tommy in his arms, there was David who looked better than anyone and stood tall next to America, who looked like she’d been through a shredding machine. Loki looked like he was ready to fall over any moment, but still he took his risk and placed a hand on America’s shoulder and made a peace sign with his other hand and smiled mischievously, not aware of the killer look America had on her face. Finally there were the two boyfriends, just reunited and happier than ever. Kissing in the middle of the portrait and holding each other as if their lives depended solely on that contact they had. 

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Teddy whispered with a smile, Billy sighed,

“It has; Young Avengers right?” he answered. Teddy nodded, suddenly his smile faded just a bit,

“So, you know, Sofia is almost the age we were when began to superhero around,” Teddy whispered. Billy’s smile faded,

“So?” he asked, a slight tone of irritation in his voice,

“So, maybe she should start going out there and helping with some low key missions like…”

“No,” Billy snapped. Teddy looked up at him,

“Why not?”

“Because she’s too young,”

“You’re starting to sound like the Avengers,”

“We are Avengers, Teddy, and this is our daughter, she’s too young,” Billy concluded as he put the picture down and stared up into the white ceiling above them. 

“She’s really strong,”

“Anything can happen out there,”

“We could protect her,”

“The same way AntMan protected Cassie?” Billy almost snarled. Teddy’s eyes widened and then filled with hurt,

“Don’t ever say that,” he warned,

“I’m sorry Teddy it’s just, I don’t want to lose her,” he sighed as he ran his thin lean fingers through his hair, the thought of all the possible ways Sofia could die filling up his head. He pushed them away,

“You won’t, we’ll be careful,”

“I’m not so sure, every day the villains get more dangerous, less show and more kill. They barely even use suits anymore; they just want to destroy all and everything. I can’t but feel like they’re more ruthless than ever.” 

“Then we’ll keep a close eye on her and that’s it.” Teddy whispered, his hand reaching up to graze Billy’s cheek. The gesture gave Billy shivers and he momentarily forgot about the worries and the warnings Magneto had been giving him. The Warlock kept his eye on Sofia just about every second of the day. He knew where she was and what she was doing and whom she was with. She never let her out of his sight. He was afraid.

“I can’t track her,” he whispered. Teddy stopped his hand and was silent, “I’ve tried and she just won’t show up. I tried tracking her while she was in school and I just couldn’t see her, I knew she was there but my magic just can’t touch her.” He sighed and Teddy resumed caressing every corner of his husband’s face. 

“She’s strong and we have many ways of getting in contact with her remember? Billy, don’t worry, I understand that maybe you think now is not the time for her to go out there and fight, but at least relax and let her carry out the semi-normal life she tries to have.” He said softly. Billy nodded and with a blink of his eyes the lights turned off,

“Let’s have a little nap of our own,” he suggested. They turned so they were both facing each other and Billy ran his hand down Teddy’s side, feeling every muscle and dip and rise of his skin. The way his body lay and pulsed beneath his fingers, it was something he cherished deeply. The smell that was so distinctly Teddy, the blue tone in his eyes that reminded him of the sky on a bright spring morning and every corner of his face; he had memorized everything. He admired and looked over every single facet, wondering how on earth he was able to love this man so much. Teddy smiled and Billy could almost hear his heart stop, it was such a secure and sweet smile, exactly like Sofia’s. They shared the same skin tone and smile; meanwhile she had Billy’s eyes and Wanda’s hair. It was like she was cut out perfectly for them. Her actions and thoughts were so similar to then, they had raised her of course, and it seemed as if she was just the world to him. Her and Teddy, his daughter and his husband, they were everything to him. Billy let himself smile as he leaned forward and captured his husband’s lips into a kiss. After a few minute of affection and whispering they fell asleep in each other’s arms, and just then Sofia stood up and walked over to her desk to continue studying. And for once, she paid no attention to the words that had slipped into her mind as she napped and continued smiling as always, her fingers threading into Tomboy’s fur and her mind at ease.

…

It was Saturday afternoon and the Kaplan-Altman family ended their dinner at the Kaplan’s house hold at around 11 pm, and they were headed home with full bellies and smiles on their faces. All except Sofia who was snoring and sprawled out on the back seat,

“She sleeps like you,” Billy pointed out,

“What? Do I really look like such an exhausted wreck when I sleep?” he laughed, “It’s barely 11! She is not going to do well in parties when she gets older.”

“Who said I’m allowing her to go to parties?” Billy asked with a smile,

“Oh, right, you’re the mom role, I’ll stay out of this,” Teddy mocked. Billy swatted his arm before rolling his eyes, obviously smiling at the joke,

“Mother role, hah, when on earth did we even choose roles?”

“The moment you prohibited her of going to parties and set her up to her first date,"

“That was necessary, and you contributed and… are you giving me the innocent look Theodore Altman-Kaplan? Are you going to go down this path? We both know you were rooting for her to call him too, ok?”

“Oh my God, we’re such Tumblr parents, we’re already shipping our daughter with some anonymous cute boy,”

“I don’t know how nerdy we can get,” Billy answered. Sofia stirred in the back seat,

“Doesn’t beat that one time you went to my school dressed like Darth Vader and quoted “Sofia, I am your father!” as I was hanging from the monkey bars.” Sofia murmured, awakened by their talking,

“To my defense, you answered to the reference perfectly,” Teddy said quickly,

“What kind of people do I live with?” Billy asked sarcastically,

“Gee I don’t know, Mr. Spock?” Sofia retorted,

“You shhhh! We agreed that what happened in ComiCon stayed in ComiCon!” Billy hissed,

“Like the event in which you accidentally hugged another Captain America impersonator that wasn’t dad and the man began hitting on you quote on quote “hardcore”?” Sofia added. Teddy almost coughed on his saliva,

“What?” Teddy asked as they reached a stop sign and he slowed down a bit,

“Sofia that was a secret!”

“Ahahaha! Who is ashamed now?” She laughed,

“Billy! How come you never told me?”

“Gee I don’t know, maybe because I was enough of a failure of a parent to get hit on by a Captain America in front of his own daughter at ComiCon,” Billy announced. There was a silence in the car before all three of them began laughing loudly. Teddy parked outside of their building and they got out, getting their things and still giggling at the joke. 

But just as they began to head towards the building Sofia froze. Billy was the first to notice and soon Teddy turned around to look at her too,

“Honey, let’s go,” Teddy said softly. She didn’t answer and simply looked at them before slowly turning her head towards the top of the building. Her eyes fixed on something beyond what Teddy and Billy could probably ever see. Billy stepped forward,

“What is it, what do you see?” He asked her, placing both hands on either side of her face and trying to look up at what she was staring. But there was nothing. Just the rooftops of New York on that cold evening,

“Nothing,” she whispered. Her gaze suddenly dropped, as did Billy’s hands from her face and she smiled, “Just recalled I’m watching Thor tomorrow,” Teddy smiled,

“You should get to bed if you want that to happen so let’s go,” he said. She nodded and as she approached her dad she lifted her arms in the way a toddler would to get lifted up. 

“Uppa,” she said with a tired tone. Teddy laughed as he swooped her up and carried her inside,

“You’re getting too old for this,” he laughed.

“She’ll never be too old for this,” Billy contradicted as they walked in. There was silence outside the building, just a single sound came from the roof as the agent in black sat as still as possible.

“Did they catch you?” the voice in his earpiece asked carefully.

“Negative, they suspect nothing,” he announced. There was a silence on the other side,

“Alright, proceed as planned,”

…

Sunday arrived way too soon. The dinner at the Kaplan’s the day before was good and Sofia had finished all her homework for Monday. Now it was 2:55 on a Sunday and she was standing in front of the movies of Mid-Town Mall, feeling utterly and completely betrayed at her uncle that zoomed by and left two tickets in her pocket and left her to deal with this new experience alone. Also she was quite angry at her fathers, but the idea of actually going to see Thor got her happy every time. Dad had left that morning and Daddy was at home waiting to go pick her up at any moment. 

“Hey, Sofia!” A voice called. She turned around to see Ivan calling her name from a distance. He was a tall and slightly tan boy, with dark brown eyes and a bit of an innocent childlike face that still hadn’t finished going through puberty. His hair was a copper almost golden brown and he was lean and cool as he walked towards her. He had Slavic features and a slightly square face; he seemed cold and kind of indifferent, which was how he always was. She liked that.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Excited, I’ve been waiting for this movie for way too long,” he answered with a smile. She smiled back,

“Good,” she said. Ivan was suddenly silent,

“So, uh, it’s a date right?” he asked. Sofia raised her eyebrow,

“Yeah, but that seems to cause you distress?” she said. She really had no idea how to act right now, so she tried to go with her best vocabulary to make sure she didn’t say anything inappropriate. He shrugged,

“Well, it’s kind of my first date ever.” He answered silently. Sofia looked up at him; she never thought there would be someone who had never gone out with a single friend in their whole life… except maybe her.

“Me too, I’ve never engaged in this kind of activity,” she announced, “so feel honored,” and with that she hooked her arm into his as she always did with her parents and pulled him towards the ticket station. Sofia suddenly heard his heart beat grow stronger and his blood seem to concentrate in his head, but she decided not to make these meticulous observations. After all, this was human Sofia, not UA strange reptilian Sofia. They got in and Ivan insisted in buying food, and Sofia allowed, after all she had provided the tickets.

“What time does the movie start?” Ivan asked,

“Three thirty ish,” Sofia answered. Ivan gaped at her,

“We’re going to get horrible seats!” he yelled suddenly, “We have to hurry!” he said as he ran towards their cinema. Sofia caught up with him quickly and they arrived almost dropping their pop corn. There a chubby lady in cinema uniform with black hair in a bun and purple fingernails looked at them,

“There aren’t any more seats sitting together, just dispersed,” the lady told them with a sour look. Ivan seemed to slouch a bit but Sofia would have none of it.

“I’m sorry, but I think these are VIP,” she stated as a matter-of-fact-ly as she gave her tickets to the girl. The girl scanned them and raised her eyebrows,

“Take the door to my left,” she instructed in a monotonous voice. Ivan looked like he was going to have a fangasm as they climbed up the stairs that followed the red door and sat down in a row of seats that overlooked the entire cinema. 

“Oh. My. God,” Ivan gaped. 

“I might hyperventilate or burst into tears so I recommend you keep Kleenex and a paper bag at hand at all times.” Sofia warned. Ivan looked at her with a half smile that was slightly incredulous,

“I don’t have Kleenex or a bag but I know CPR in case you stop breathing.” He said in his rich accent. Suddenly he was pale, as if he had just realized what he had said, “I mean, the heart pumping thing, we don’t have to do the mouth to mouth thing. I mean, no, ignore that, I didn’t say that ok?” he said quickly, his accent getting thicker the more nervous he got. Sofia looked up at him curiously,

“It’s ok, I would try to revive you if you weren’t breathing too,” she said with a smile. Ivan seemed to regain some of his color but he still seemed a bit embarrassed. Sofia wasn’t entirely sure why. But the moment the lights dimmed and the trailers began they were giggling like two little kids; which in reality, was exactly what they were. The moment the MARVEL sign appeared on the screen Sofia had to bite the collar of her t-shirt to muffle an excited scream and Ivan gave her the most expectant eyes she had ever seen, right next to the face her parents made when a new comic release arrived at their door. Sofia reached over and dug her fingers into his arm, careful enough to not hurt him, but enough to be able to drain her excitement at the moment. They both muffled their excited giggles and tried to sit still. And so the movie began. 

…

Billy wasn’t a paranoid father, no. He knew Ivan was a good kid, he researched him to the bone and went through all government files and even found out he was a foster kid in a Ukrainian family. He wasn’t spying on his daughter because he felt that the boy would make a strange move on her, if anything the boy looked more afraid of Sofia than he was interested. But if Billy was paranoid it was about a single thing, security. And ever since Magneto had warned him of the Gas Masked man at that party he never took his eyes of her. Either him or Teddy were always watching or nearby, and for this reason he was floating in a corner of the theatre, completely invisible and intangible, watching over every single person in the room. He had to admit that the damn Thor movie was incredibly distracting at times, but of course he was aware and always watching over his dear daughter. Speaking of which, she seemed to have already finished the pop corn and her soda and she was probably cutting the circulation off the poor boy’s arm by now. Her little hands grasping the material as her eyes were lost in the realms of Asgard that appeared on the huge screen. But the boy was so indulged in the movie, he seemed to not even notice. Billy had to keep himself from snickering. 

The movie was coming to an end and Thor had completely annihilated the enemy after a way too-close call and now he was leaning down and kissing Jane Foster, as always. Billy’s eyes shot towards his daughter as he waited for her reaction. As expected, she made a face and stuck her tongue out in disgust; she hated the kissing scenes. The uninterested face the boy had proved to Billy that he agreed with her, but suddenly something lit up in his eyes and he tensed a bit. His eyes traveled to Sofia who was sitting back, not really caring about the romantic scenes that were on the screen at the moment. He gulped and looked back up at the screen, his eyes fighting to stay calm. Billy knew that look; he had gone on dates too and knew the faces people made at those awkward moments. 

No, Billy thought, this boy better not be thinking about doing anything weird or he will be in the 50th dimension before he can take another breath.

Sofia seemed to notice the tenseness in Ivan because she turned around to look at him with curious eyes,

“Are you alright?” she whispered. Ivan almost jumped at the words before he came to his senses and he looked down at her,

“Oh, da, I mean yes, I just…” he trailed off in a soft voice. There was a hint of awkward silence before he looked down at his arm, Sofia was still clutching his sleeve but with a single hand, the excitement of the fighting scenes gone. He swallowed visibly,

“Uh, here,” he said as he quickly pulled her hand off his sleeve with his left hand. He shifted his arm so they were aligned and then he placed hers right on top of his, clasping his hand around hers after a hesitant moment. Sofia stared intently at their hands, her eyes as big and brown and curious as always and Billy could see the gears turning in her head. They were probably heading the wrong way if he knew his daughter well enough. “Ok, better,” he announced silently as he looked back up at the movie. Billy had to bite his tongue to stop from laughing. These two were priceless.

It was in the middle of his muffled giggling fit that the lights in the theatre went out. Billy’s head shot up as he realized the whole place had gone pitch black. The movie no longer playing and everyone gasping in surprise, some yelling and some complaining, and he quickly flew towards his daughter. She was still sitting but now she was at the edge of her seat and he could see her eyes looking around quickly and he ears slightly twitching, her nose sniffling lightly. She would have the place analyzed in a second. Her eyes shot up towards Billy and he knew he was caught, but he shook his head and pointed towards the door, a gesture she completely understood. 

“We must go,” she said suddenly, pulling Ivan from his feet and leading him towards the stair cases when suddenly she stopped. She was quite once more and her eyes widened,

“Daddy,” she whispered, her fingers beginning to tremble,

“Sofia? What’s wrong?” Ivan asked quickly, concern clear in his usually cold eyes. Her eyes were fearful and she began to shake as she turned around and pulled him as far away from the staircase as she could. 

“Daddy!” She yelled loudly, and Billy knew what he had to do. He swooped towards them and reappeared, wrapping both arms around them before casting a spell, his energy protecting them from whatever may try to attack them. The boy’s eyes were huge with confusion,

“Sofia now!” He Billy yelled. Her eyes were wide in panic, breath fast and fearful. He could feel her body tensing and her mind rushing. She was going into shock, he had seen it many times before and it took hours to get her out of it once it happened. He couldn’t use him magic on her and once again he cursed under his breath for this dreadful thought. Suddenly there were screams in the theatre and Billy looked up, he had to hurry.

“Sofia snap out of it!” he tightened his grip on her. Still nothing. Suddenly he heard it. He looked up and there it was. The huge mass of red gas filling the room slowly but surely. 

“Sofia!” he yelled. She cringed and he immediately shook her, “I’m right here for you,” he said as he forced her to look at him. “I’m here my little girl, just look at me and think of home, get us home.” He whispered. Her big brown eyes suddenly came to sense, her body loosening and suddenly Billy was covered in a green light and then they were out of there.

…

Ivan didn’t know what to do. He knew about mutants but his parents told him never to speak of them in public or anywhere, that it was a cursed subject. He didn’t argue. But as soon as he saw the green light and felt his body being submersed in the rarest of feelings his mind went blank in fear. His head spun and his ears rung as he landed on something soft, his limbs out of his control. Slowly things became clearer, his vision no longer blurry, and soon he could hear voices nearby. There was a slightly hoarse female voice, Sofia, it had to be her. He tried to turn towards the voices and as he did he saw her, the image of the small girl starting to get a better outline as the seconds went by. But there was a male voice nearby, rich and tenor, speaking to her,

“… sure that’s what you heard?”

“I can’t remember Daddy, but I felt like I’d hear it before and suddenly I was afraid, you know that doesn’t happen often.”

“I’ll call Dad and Kate, see what they can help with. Don’t move from here honey I’m locking down the house,” the male voice left with light footsteps. Suddenly he could see again, and he realized where he was. It was a white and green room, most likely a girl’s, but it wasn’t entirely easy to tell. He was laying on a bed with red covers and an Avengers logo on it and his head was on a cotton soft pillow. Suddenly something blocked his view as Sofia leaned over him,

“You’re awake,” she said with a shaky voice. Her eyes seemed worried yet relieved,

“What the fuck was that?” Ivan hissed softly, his tone more confused than rude,

“I don’t know but my daddy says that we might have to lock down in case…”

“No, what was that? What was the green light and everything! Where are we and how did we get here?” Ivan interrupted. His head was still feeling weird so he tried to stay lying down. Sofia’s eyes darkened with understanding and she sat back on her heels on the bed. Her brown curls bouncing at the side of her square face,

“I didn’t want to tell you until later…” Sofia said softly, 

“Tell me what?” Ivan asked daringly. He hated being lied to.

“I don’t really come from a normal family…” she said softly, 

“They’re both guys, I know…” he said.

“No,” she interrupted, her eyes looking intently at him, “My parents are heroes, my daddy is the Sorcerer Supreme and my dad is Captain Marvel. I’m their daughter,” she said, and even as she tried to explain with care Ivan could hear the pride in her voice. His eyes widened at the words. They had TELETRANSPORTED. And probably by the means of magic or energy or at least SOMETHING! He wanted to scream in frustration at the years of ignorance. He knew that it wasn’t all just the technology, as people rumored. It had to have been some kind of power, he had just been teletransported by the Sorcerer Supreme and he had just gone on a date with his daughter and then seen him appear and oh god now he was feeling sick. Ivan began to feel the pop corn and soda come up and Sofia saw it even before he had felt it. She hauled him on her shoulder and ran with him to the nearest bathroom where he emptied out in the toilet, Sofia by his side and a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly the voice was there again,

“Is he alright?”

“Yeah, he just seems kind of dizzy,” Sofia answered. Ivan was breathing heavily as he reached over and took some toilet paper to clean his mouth and catch his breath.

“Ivan, here,” the deep male voice said. Ivan looked up and saw a tall brunette man standing before him. He felt his stomach twist once more. This was The Sorcerer Supreme in his complete suit, the controller of dimensions and reality twister, and he was literally handing him a warm moist towel he had just magicked out of nowhere. Ivan was sick once more before reaching to receive the offering and wipe himself clean. 

“Sorry, I’m just,” Ivan felt pale as he looked at Sofia and then the Sorcerer, their brown eyes carried the same worry and expression, “surprised…” he finished with a huff. Sofia smiled at him and ran her hand up and down his back in a comforting manner.

“I’m sorry, I know this is quite early but, I’m Sofia’s father. You can call me Mr. Kaplan,” The Sorcerer announced as he leaned forward to shake Ivan’s hand with delicacy, but the Ukrainian boy could feel the strong muscle under that careful touch. 

“I’m Ivan…” he answered carefully, his eyes still incredulous. The phone rang and he hurried over to answer.

“Want to go back to the room?” Sofia asked. Ivan nodded and they walked back with care before Ivan collapsed on the bed once more,

“What about you,” he asked suddenly. 

“What about me?” 

“Yeah, are you a mutant?” he asked bluntly. Sofia laughed at the forwardness of the question, but she didn’t seem to mind,

“No, I’m not like my daddy as far as I know, I’m more like my dad though,” she answered. Ivan turned around slowly and stared at her with wide eyes,

“Are you Skrull?” he asked carefully this time, fear starting to seep into his eyes. Sofia chuckled,

“No, but maybe it would be easier if I was.” She said softly, 

“Kree?”

“Nope,”

“What kind?”

“UA,” she answered after a moment. Ivan raised an eye brow,

“New species?” he asked. She shook her head, 

“Well, not really… we don’t know.” She answered with a shrug, “It’s an acronym, I’m an Unidentified Alien,” Ivan was suddenly extremely curious. He turned so he was facing her,

“Are you?”

“Yeap,”

“But you look human,” he answered. Sofia chuckled,

“That’s kind of a cover,” Ivan raised both his eye brows,

“Really, so I basically went to movies with a huge green alien blob that uses cover to look human?” he asked,

“The movies, you missed “the” again… or in your case “ze”.” Sofia laughed. Ivan punched her arm playfully, 

“Shut up, my accent is sexy and you know it,” he answered. She cracked a smile,

“Also, I’m not a green blob, that was insulting.” She answered. Ivan didn’t know how to feel, if excited or scared. But he knew one thing, as soon as he got home and his parents found out he would probably never see Sofia ever again. And so he took his chance,

“Can I see you?” he asked. She looked at him startled,

“See me?” she asked suddenly. He nodded,

“Like, as you are naturally,” he finished.

Sofia didn’t answer; instead she shifted so she was facing him completely. She sighed and closed her eyes and suddenly a strange sound filled the room. A soft hissing sound that filled his ears. He looked at her intently when she suddenly saw her arms and had to keep himself from gasping. The white scales covered her limbs and then her body and she began to GROW! She was taller by the second and suddenly she was large, a big woman, almost like the Amazonians he had read about in the comics, but her legs were different. They were muscular but her feet were longer, almost like rabbit feet but without paws, and suddenly she had claws instead of toe nails and a tail began moving behind her. Her hair turned an oily black but didn’t lose its texture. Her lips were not covered by the scales but they were paper white none the less. Ivan didn’t know what to think. Just a second ago there was a small girl in front of him and suddenly there was a huge alien that was easily three heads taller than him and that resembled an albino demon if anything. Her eyes opened slowly and they were a lime and brilliant green, her pupils slightly thinner than before and when she smiled a little he could see the sharpness of her teeth behind her white lips. He almost felt like he couldn’t breathe,

“This is me,” she said softly. Ivan jumped at the strange voice that sounded like two, one scary and pitchy while the other was warm and tender. He sat up slowly, his eyes never leaving her face,

“God Spadi…” he said softly. His heart was pulsing under his ribcage and he didn’t know how to feel. He felt like he was 6 again, next to such a huge creature, but at the same time he felt so intrigued by how scary looking she was, yet her face had not changed. It was Sofia’s face looking down at him with curious eyes. 

“You are… huge,” he said,

“Yes, my napoleon complex doesn’t really work in this body,” she answered. They both smiled at the comment. He instinctively reached a hand up and quickly stopped himself,

“Can I?” he asked, curiosity pulsing under his fingers. She nodded and he slowly moved his hand forward, every move nervous. Her eyes were fixed on him, never leaving his as his hand carefully touched her scales. His fingertips buzzed with energy and he pressed his whole hand onto her arm. It was like touching an energized machine, feeling it drone with electricity.

“Woah,” he said. Suddenly The Sorcerer burst through the door and Ivan pulled back so quickly he almost made himself sick again. He curled around his stomach and cursed in Russian. 

“Sofia we are going to need to leave your friend at…” The man stopped and looked down, or rather up, at his daughter, “Sofia… why are you in alien form?” he asked. 

“I was showing him, since he already saw you… I thought he should find out.” She answered calmly. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. 

“Alright, anyway, we need to take him home. I don’t think his mother will be too happy to find out he was kidnapped by a mutant and his alien daughter.” He informed. 

“Yes daddy,”

“No,” Ivan said suddenly. Both of them looked up at him, “Wait,” he said with a gulp, “I know I have to leave eventually but please. I need a few answers. I’ll never get this chance again in my life, the moment I go home my mom won’t let me see Sofia ever again and I just have a few questions.” He said quickly. The Sorcerer gazed at him, his hands on his hips now,

“Does your mother have anything against mutants or aliens?” he asked. Ivan was trying to sit up again, his arms still around his stomach,

“No, she’s ok with them; she just doesn’t want me interacting with them. It’s like she thinks they’re contagious or something. That’s the whole reason I’m in this school with you Sofia, because according to the statistics they had never had a mutant student. I just guess she never considered searching for alien students…” he said. Sofia’s expression was suddenly cold and analytical,

“But what can we tell you that you can’t Google at your school or something, there really isn’t anything I can tell you that isn’t public or that I’ll be thrown in jail for telling you.” Mr. Kaplan said, his face exactly like Sofia’s. They were definitely related. 

“Believe me, I’ve done a lot of research.” He said. “But there is one thing in particular I just don’t get.”

“What would that be?” Sofia asked. Ivan looked up at the Sorcerer, his eyes cold and serious,

“15 years ago there was a scientific lab was found in the Arctic Circle that contained many prisoners used to perform illegal experiments,” he began. Mr. Kaplan’s expression changed, and so did Sofia’s,

“There were a handful of babies that were sent to different areas of the universe and earth since they were parentless.” He said. “I know this is just wishful thinking but… I’m adopted, and I’m 15, and my adoption papers said I was placed in the Ukrainian foster home by the government. No parents left me there and I just…” he trailed off and suddenly Mr. Kaplan’s eyes were understanding,

“You think you might be one of them…” He said softly. Ivan nodded,

“I know that they were all mutants and that this meant they would go to Xavier School for Gifted Young, but I just want to know where I’m from.” He answered. Sofia stared at him intently, nodding at his every word. The Sorcerer sighed,

“Listen Ivan, I know you want answers but we are in a very complicated situation right now. You know what happened in the cinema, that wasn’t a normal villain. There is someone we have been waiting for if so to say for many years and we believe he might have been there today trying to get to Sofia.” He said carefully,

“Why would he want Sofia?”Ivan asked, Mr. Kaplan shrugged,

“It’s one of those things I simply can’t tell you,” he said quickly, “So please, we have to take you home and I assure you we will find a way to get you the answers as soon…” but before he would finish the building shook. Ivan let out a startled scream and Sofia stood up from the bed, making her even larger and majestic than she already was. Ivan was torn between being amazed or terrified… or sick. Suddenly Sofia began to tremble,

“Daddy I hear it, I can hear it again!” she started yelling in a terrified voice. The Sorcerer Supreme once again ran forward and tried to put one hand one hand on either side of her panicking face when suddenly Ivan could feel his whole body erupting with pain and shivers. He let out a yell and suddenly the world was blurry and he could hear voices in the distance. It didn’t last long before he fainted. 

…

Billy began to panic. He had not panicked in many years, not since Sofia had entered her cocoon state or when she disappeared from her room. But now he was panicking. First it had been Ivan, the boy curling over himself and screaming in pain before collapsing. And then it was her. Her green eyes were trembling and her body collapsing until she was sprawled on the floor, Billy unable to hold her body up, and there she lay, in total silence. 

“Sofia, wake up Sofia!” he began yelling, shaking his daughter. He didn’t care if she looked alien, the same way he had fallen in love with a half Skrull that looked strangely like the hulk, he was able to see this creature as his beloved daughter. Her body was limp against his and he began to suspect the worst when suddenly he heard it. He understood what she had tried to explain to him for so long. There was a hissing noise, like that of gas escaping a compressed container. He couldn’t smell anything and he couldn’t see anything, but he could hear it so clear. 

“I had been quite a while, has it not,” the silky voice announced. Billy whirled around to face the dark silhouette standing in front of the window’, his shadow casting upon him in the New York evening light. There he was; the man in the gas mask.

“It really has been quite a while,” Billy said as calmly as he could. “I guess you’re going to walk through a long set of speeches you’ve mustered up for today and then suffocate me and steal my daughter… am I correct?” he hinted. The man chuckled lightly,

“Very good guess, but no, I will do neither of the last two, but I will do the first.” He said calmly, as if he was speaking to a good old friend. He gestured towards the boy on the bed,

“This is product 010, as I liked to call him, but you’ve named him Ivan from what I recall. He was rescued from the Lab you broke into and sent to Ukraine after finding Slavic descent in his blood. Adopted, shunned from his powers, they are held inside him and at the rate he is living they will probably never develop. He is useless, one of the failed ones.” He said swiftly. “I have no use for him, he will probably die by his expiration date since he is unable to turn active.” As he said this he turned towards Sofia. Billy quickly lifted her head and held it against his chest, his protectiveness kicking in.

“That right there is Product 025. The very last one I created. Took me the longest to put together and actually get her into the incubator before her cellular structure collapsed. A real miracle if you ask me. Look at her!” he said with a voice that sounded near tears. “Perfect reaction and body, energy conduction, incredible strength and speed and all thank you to all the training you have given her! Now she is a worthy product that will live.” He concluded finally. Suddenly there was a pause, “… or will she,” he whispered. Billy snapped,

“What do you mean ‘or will she’? If you’ve gone through all this to get to her then tell me what you’re planning to do to her!” he yelled. The man was silent, just staring with those huge grey and morbid eyes towards Billy’s only child. He loathed the man in the gas mask.

“William I lied.” He said suddenly, “I’ve lied and I’m sorry I did but now I will tell you the truth, and then it will be good, right?” Billy stared at him intently,

“What did you lie about,” he asked carefully.

“I lied about taking her away. That was my plan initially. She is strong now and capable of just about anything, of course there is much to improve but the base line has been met. But as I arrived I saw her panic. She is so weak, so innocent, so untouched by the world. It makes me sad that you were able to build a child of gold, yet her insides are made of glass. If I take her I’m afraid she will kill herself of depression. She is spoiled to the bone. And so I will leave her here.” He said as he began to walk forward, step by step. Billy’s eyes glowed a light blue and suddenly there was a forced field around him. He opened his mouth to wish him away, to destroy him, to do anything he could to just make him leave when suddenly no words came out. Nor did any air, for that matter.

“I also lied about suffocating you,” he said casually. Billy fought for oxygen, his body fighting to force his lungs to suck in air, but there was nothing. He could leave, but that would mean leaving his daughter in the hands of his man. And that he could not do. “She needs to be strong, I’ll just take something important from her and she will grow. Internally! See it as a sacrifice for your little girl.” He tried to think but suddenly his mind was foggy and he knew nothing. The world blurred and all he could do was press his daughter’s body against his own and try to never let go. And so at the very last second he saw a bright light and then, it was all black.


	11. The Sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its all gone to hell, and Teddy really doesn't know what to do. Nor does anybody else.

Teddy could understand now. He understood how scared Billy was of hurting those around him, afraid of losing control and of making irreparable damages. How he wished he could go back and hug his husband, his dear husband he loved so much, and tell him, “You were right! I knew it wasn’t easy but I never thought it was this hard!” For him, Teddy Altman, Captain Marvel, had just lost control. He sat surrounded by the disaster he had just caused, the whole place had been standing just seconds ago and now here he stood, rubble under his feet, dust blinding his eyes as they tried to see after the wave of anger and grief. And he looked at his hands, covered in their own blood, and green underneath. He hated it, he hated himself for being so ignorant. For not staying with Billy when he knew his husband was getting nervous, for telling him everything would be alright and that they were strong enough. They were all lies. They weren’t strong at all.

“Teddy,” Kate’s voice was nearby, and it was careful and tender. He didn’t look up. He felt his stomach churn in grief and his eyes water once more. Billy, Billy, his Billy! He refused to believe it, but he knew it was true. He was gone, dead, and Teddy had been too late to stop it. And then there was Sofia, his daughter, his gift from heaven. She was in the intensive care of the hospital once more, the doctors saying her health was decreasing by the minute and that they knew nothing of how to stop it. How had it all gone to hell in just a day? Just 24 hours ago they had been a happy family in their car, isolated from the world and from everything cruel. Why?

“Teddy,” the voice was closer now, a warm hand landing on his huge arm. He breathed and let his body become smaller until he was human once more. He looked up at Kate from where he sat on his knees and her eyes were so sad, she was crying as well. He reached up and wrapped his arms around her and sobbed; his voice cracking and his body trembling every time he let out a shivering weep. Suddenly there was an explosion nearby and Teddy felt as strong hands lifted him from the ground and pinned him to the wall, green eyes burning into his own. Teddy was positive he had never seen Tommy so angry his whole life. 

“You,” he hissed, Teddy could feel his hands shaking in anger as they pinned him to the wall, “were supposed to protect them!” he finally yells. “You were his husband, and you are her father, and now he’s dead and she’s going down that same road!” Suddenly he let him go and he began pacing around, his heads threaded into his own white hair.

“Tommy,” Teddy almost whimpered, 

“SHUT UP!” Tommy roared, he threw his hands down and the quick movement caused two large explosions at his side. “You’re not the only one suffering dammit! He was my brother and she’s my niece, and I care about them you little shit! You have no fucking right to destroy the HQ and just blame it on your uselessness!” Tommy couldn’t hold still and Teddy didn’t blame him, it was his way of blowing up the steam, but Teddy was more hurt inside than he had been a few minutes ago.

“Tommy!” Kate yelled in anger,

“I know, Tommy,” Teddy murmured, “I know and I’m sorry, I have no excuse and I’ll never forgive myself but please just… stop saying those things, please,” Teddy begged, wrapping his arms around his stomach. Tommy finally stopped where he was and paused for just a millisecond, his body incredibly still for what seemed like ages in the speedster’s mind. 

“Who was it,” he asked. There was a thick silence before Kate spoke,

“We have no idea,” A piece of ruble exploded nearby Tommy as he lashed out,

“Bullshit!” he yelled. But he did nothing else; instead he crouched and seemed to double over his body, his fingers pulling at his white hair as he groaned in anger. 

“I want to see her,” Teddy said silently. Kate nodded, understanding. “You too Tommy, we should at least be with her,” The speedster said nothing, he simply stood up and before Teddy could blink the speedster had grabbed him and ran him all the way to the hospital. Kate and Tommy were next to him a second later and so they entered the building. People stared, to say the least, but soon they made it to their designated area of the hospital. Crawlyn was there. He hadn’t seen the old man in a long time; Sofia had turned 12 and no longer needed a pediatrician and so he retired his post as her physician. The moment Crawlyn saw Teddy he gave grimaced and placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder,

“I’m terribly sorry Theodore; this means a great lot to me as well. I will do everything to pull you and your daughter through this,” he said with a comforting tone. His eyes were sincere and had deep bags beneath them; the man was looking older than before. 

“Thank you,” Teddy managed to say even with his stomach constricting inside himself.

“Can we please see her,” Tommy said suddenly. He nodded,

“Just this way,” he informed. They hadn’t finished walking down the hall when something stopped Teddy,

“Mr. Kaplan!” a young male voice called. Teddy felt his stomach churn but he forced himself to turn around. There was nobody behind them that seemed to want his attention but even so he heard the voice once more. It was coming from one of the rooms near them. 

“Who is that?” Teddy asked. Crawlyn looked at the room number and recognized it,

“He was with them when it happened, a boy we found unconscious along with Sofia. He has a kind of Russian accent,” He answered. Teddy looked up suddenly, of course; Sofia’s friend. Teddy took no time in entering the room and looking at the boy. He looked incredibly weak, as if he had been in the hospital for many weeks. There were bags under his eyes and his body seemed pale and his breathing difficult. It hadn’t even been a day since the incident and there was no way this boy was like this normally.

“You’re Ivan, right?” Teddy asked suddenly. He nodded,

“Yes, please tell me, why I am here? Where are Sofia and other Mr. Kaplan? Where is my mother?” he asked suddenly, as if he hadn’t had a chance to ask anybody about his condition. Teddy suddenly felt like he was going to be sick and his expression dropped. Ivan’s eyes widened,

“Tell me they’re alright…” he said softly. Teddy shook his head,

“Well, you’re mother I know nothing about. Mr. Kaplan is…” he couldn’t finish the sentence before he could feel tears accumulating in his eyes once more. Ivan’s eyes seemed to lose so much hope,

“But… but he’s the Sorcerer Supreme! How did it happen?” he asked in worry, “Am I the only one? Is Sofia dead too?” He asked, his voice cracking towards the end. Teddy shook his head and forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat.

“No, she’s alive… but she’s sick and I need to go see her now. I’m sorry I can’t help more Ivan but… I need to see my daughter.” He said. With this he took one last look at the poor boy and then walked out of the room. Crawly, Tommy and Kate were still there,

“Crawlyn, please take care of him, he looks terrible,” Teddy said as they continued to walk down the hall,

“I’m afraid she is suffering exactly what Sofia is. I don’t know if they were poisoned or infected but their bodies are breaking down.” The doctor explained solemnly. Teddy felt his heart sink.

“Him as well?” he asked.

“Yes, and I’m afraid I can’t do anything.” The doctor sighed. They entered an elevator and Crawlyn typed in a number into the dial pad. They sunk down to a floor that didn’t seem accessible to the general public. Surprising enough for Teddy they entered a branch of the Avengers HQ he didn’t even know was located underneath the hospital. But those questions were unnecessary now. All he wanted to do was reach Sofia. And so they walked; Tommy was beginning to twitch more and more from having to go at their speed and Kate simply walked with a blank look on her face beside him. Soon they reached a room that was larger than most of the other ones. It was completely surrounded by curtains and it was impossible to see inside. Crawlyn pushed inside without as much as a pause and everyone followed. Teddy gasped.

“Oh Dad…” came the hoarse voice of his daughter, weaker than he had ever heard it. Her face was miserable and she was sprawled out in her human form, her hair spread out around her head and her eyes looking towards the other side of the room. The room was so silent and she lay there almost like a cadaver, unmoving and pale. The room was ironic almost, an attempt to be comforting and warm, they had even brought her a plate with food, but it lay untouched on the table besides her bed. A small lamp was connected to the wall and was also sitting nearby her. There were bruises in some part of her body and her eyes were sunken and low, as if they had lost all hope. He wanted to cry. “Oh dad… I…” she paused for a moment and swallowed, “I couldn’t do anything.” She said as tears rolled down her cheeks, her eyes traveling to meet his; they were hazel brown towards the pupil but the rim of her iris was the same electric green of her alien form. Teddy crossed the room as quickly as he could and carefully placed a hand on her head and another on her arm. She brushed her hair back,

“Oh Sofia don’t say that I should have been there,” he whispered. She shook her head,

“No, you had to go to the meeting, I could have gotten us out of there… but I panicked! I was so scared Dad, and now Daddy’s dead!” she squeaked the last part out, her arms shook with effort as she lifted them and covered her face with her small hands. Tommy and Kate were there too and Tommy pulled her hands away from her face,

“Shh don’t say that, Sofia listen to me,” he said softly. She looked up at the Speedster, “My idiot of a brother did what he would have don’t in any situation, ok? Even if you were awake or Teddy was there, if it came down to it there was no stopping him, alright? Don’t blame yourself for his reckless actions. He wouldn’t want that and you know it, that man would turn the world into Minecraft if he had to just to keep you from crying.” He said, giving her the tiniest smile to reassure her. She nodded. Then there was silence.

“Hi Kate,” Sofia said as she looked at the archer,

“Hi sweetie, how are you holding off?” she asked as she reached forward and pushed one of her wild strands out of her hair. 

“I’m holding on,” she answered simply. Suddenly the alarms went off and everyone looked up,

“Shit, what now?” Tommy yelled. Crawlyn quickly pulled out his phone and read the message that arrived to it.

“There’s an intruder in the first floor of the hospital and is headed in the direction of Intensive Care,” he read out loud, “He is under classification of mutant and is described with black clothes and a vintage gas mask. Please search for a safe place to stay while…”

“What?” Teddy hissed, his eyes widening. Gas mask… gas mask… that fucking bastard. 

“I hadn’t finished,” Crawlyn began,

“You said Gasmask right?” Teddy inquired quickly. Crawly read it over and nodded.

“Do you know this person?” the doctor asked just as Teddy stood up straighter,

“Yes, and I’ll bet you anything he’s the one that killed my husband.” He said with rage heavy in his words. Sofia’s eyed widened,

“Don’t go Dad, don’t go! Daddy couldn’t beat him!” she screeched. Teddy turned around and embraced her, her weak arms wrapping around his huge figure. “Don’t go,” she whimpered. But even so he kissed her forehead and pulled out of her grasp. The moment he burst out of the room she screeched after him. Soon Tommy and Kate also left the room after quick goodbye’s and promises to be back, and every time Sofia tried to reach for them and tried to pull forward, just to have her body betray her every time. She yelled and screamed until her voice broke into a dual pitch. Crawlyn went over and began trying to calm her down, the moment she saw him look towards the table full of instruments she knew he was looking for the sedative.

“Don’t you dare,” she hissed. He looked at her with weary eyes,

“You’ll hurt yourself,” he explained as he moved towards the tray full of utensils. Sofia looked around quickly, her eyes analyzing everything until they found what she needed. If she couldn’t stop them, she would join them.

“I’m sorry, but not today,” she hissed. Crawlyn turned around and looked at her with concern. She reached over as quickly as she could and snatched the silver fork from where it lay on the tray, Crawlyn’s eye widened,

“Sofia,” he said carefully. But before he could move forward she turned her head and with perfect accuracy plunged the thin silver teeth into the unoccupied outlet where the lamp was connected. 

“Sofia!” he yelled as the electricity burst out and engulfed her. And so her scales began to grow out.

…

Teddy, Tommy and Kate arrived to the first floor through the elevator. That proved to be a mistake, for the moment the doors slid open they entered the epicenter of the chaos. Smoke was curling around everywhere and Tommy did a few rounds to clear as much of it as he could. But as soon as the smoke engulfed Kate and Teddy, it cringed away and emptied the trashed hallway. People lay on the ground coughing and wheezing in pain. And there he was, at the end of the hall way, standing as casually as anybody else. 

“Oh Theodore! Thomas, Katelyn, what a nice surprise to see you all here. I was just stirring up some trouble, wanted your attention, is all, and it worked!” he said with a nonchalant tone. Teddy shifted into his green form, towering above everyone, and stood very still.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Teddy growled. There was a tense silence before the man shuffled his feet for a moment,

“Oh, William, yes, quite the tragedy, have you found the body yet?” he asked, as if they were talking about a lost dog and he was showing his empty concern. 

“Where did you hide him?” Kate hissed; her hands reaching up to take an arrow from her back. He shrugged,

“If I told you, there wouldn’t be any fun in that, now would there?” he said with voice that sounded like he was smiling. That was it. They all snapped at the same time. Kate let go of her arrow and it hissed through the air. It hit the man square on the head. It turned to smoke and the rest of the body stood still and straight. At the same moment Teddy ran forwards and plunged his fist into the torso of the man. His whole body turned to smoke and then Tommy was running around him so fast the smoke was beginning to dissolve. But just as he was going to continue running his body froze and he crashed against a wall at extreme speed. 

“Tommy!” Kate yelled. She lifted her arrow and shot an arrow in the general direction which opened a gas portal. It whirled and sucked in all the gas in the area. Tommy lay unmoving on the ground, but just as Teddy ran towards him a huge gust of wind threw him through the wall and towards the outside of the hospital. Kate screamed after him but he was crashing against pavement too fast to be able to react to it. Suddenly there was once more, his unchanging expression just a few meters from Teddy, who was struggling to stand up as quickly as he could.

“So weak,” he said softly. Teddy roared and ran forward while shifting out his wings to swing them against the man. He turned into gas momentarily before appearing again right in front of him. His hand went up with an open palm and suddenly Teddy couldn’t breathe.

“I give you a chance to show me what you’re made of and all you do is run at me blindly. How predictable.” He said so casually that Teddy wants to rip him to piece inch by inch and burn him. “What now? Your speedster is unconscious, your archer is unconscious from lack of oxygen and your mage is dead. What else do you have?” he asked. Teddy wasn’t given a chance to answer before a huge green light appeared from inside the building. The gas masked man looked up curiously and let go of Teddy, but pinned him to the ground with air pressure. Both of them looked towards the giant hole in the wall where Teddy had crashed through. Teddy’s heart almost stopped. Sofia stood here, in her alien form, her eyes more tired than he had ever seen them before but her body was pulsing with energy. She bared her fangs.

“Keep your hands off my Dad,” she hissed with rage. The masked man laughed,

“Sofia…. Don’t….” But Teddy was losing oxygen in his brain, and quickly. The world was a blur for him.

“Oh this is just perfect,” he replied softly. Suddenly he disappeared but Sofia could hear him, could smell him. She dodged and ran away from every heave of gas that tried to cover her. She created a bubble of energy and kept him contained. But just as she did a mass of gas collided with her back and she shrieked in pain. She sucked her energy back in and just as the gas was about to engulf her she transported with a flash of green light out of it. She only had energy enough to shift a few meters away. She was growing tired so fast, and her body was giving up. She forced herself to her feet and prepared to fight.

“So many years of training Sofia, for what?” he asked. She looked up at him with her eyes and their thin slits. Once again he tried to engulf her but this time she was quicker. She was able to surround him and compress him until he was forced into his human form again. He was inside the bubble of green energy and she concentrated, every single cell of her being trying to suck the energy out of him. But the man was not out of tricks. With the little energy he had left he looked towards one of the gas tanks that sat behind the hospital. It leaked and soon Sofia smelled it, her eyes widening. With a snap of his fingers there was a spark and suddenly she was engulfed in flames.

“No!” Teddy roared, his head still whirling around because of the lack of oxygen. Sofia burst out of the flames but her bubble was gone. She lay on the ground, her scales were fire proof but she was exhausted, he chest heaving up and down as she lay on the ground, trying to catch her breath.

“That was much better.” The man admitted as he returned to his human form. “But still weak.” He pointed out. He walked towards her slowly, watching as she slowly lost more and more energy, her body collapsing by the second. He stood before her and lifted his hand,

“Even as you can hold your breath, I’m sure I can suck all the gases out of your system in just a few seconds. In which case you should be dead in about 10 seconds, how does that sound?” he asked. She just stared at him for a second before closing her eyes,

“Alright,” she whispered. “Let me see my Daddy.” 

The man stood there in utter silence. 

“You want to die?”

“Yes,” she said clearly. No doubt was in her voice, “Just let my Dad live.” Teddy roared as he lifted himself from the ground and began moving towards the man. But the man merely turned around before a gust of wind blew him away and crashed him against a group of cars. He fell unconscious. The man stared down at her, the gears in his brain turning until he looked up once more.

“What if I told you your Daddy isn’t dead.” He said casually. Her eyes were wide but before she could answer a large metal tray flew through the hole in the wall and hit the man square in the face. His faced jerked backwards and he froze in the position.

“Get your fucking hands off her!” A hoarse voice yelled. Sofia looked up in disbelief,

“Ivan?” she asked. He stood there in his hospital gown, on hand holding another tray in his hands and the second one holding his gown so the wind wouldn’t lift it and expose his weak body.

“Oh goodness just when I thought nothing new could happen,” the man replied calmly. Ivan ran forward and the man stepped back just slightly, more curious than intimidated. He placed himself in front of Sofia, the tray held high in defense. Sofia looked up at him, slightly amused and very worried.

“Ivan, get back in,” she ordered.

“Niet! I heard you tell him ot kill you, every superhero here is either unconscious or an idiot so I’m here now.” He said quickly, but she could hear the fear in his voice. 

“And what are you going to do? Throw another tray at me?” the man asked.

“If I have to, yes,” Ivan retorted. Suddenly the tray in his hands started metling and Ivan quickly let it go, “… or not,” he said quietly. The man began to get closer once more and this time Ivan threw himself in front of Sofia, trying to cover her enormous body with his.

“Boy, are you a fool or are you in love?” he asked rhetorically. Ivan shook his head,

“I’m not in love, and I’m sure not a fool,” he answered. Sofia’s eyes were fluttering now; she could feel as her system lost the little energy it had left. “But you aren’t putting a finger on my only friend!” he yelled. The man sighed and with a swift movement he lifted the boy up from the back of his hospital gown and threw him aside. Ivan yelped as he fell onto the hard ground and the man placed a hand on Sofia’s face. She shrunk to human size and he lifted her up into his arms.

“You were a failure, but perhaps I can make a new one of you. One without emotions,” he said with a sing song voice. Ivan stood up quickly and ran over to dig his hands into her hospital gown.

“Let her go!” he yelled. The man merely turned around before flinging him into the air once more. He hit the ground hardly but still he forced himself to stand up and limp after them. Sofia looked up at him and reached her hand out.

“What use is it to beckon him closer if all I’ll do is hurt him?” he asked with a sigh as he heard the boy getting closer, his face determined and his jaw clenched. But even so she reached out and Ivan reached out too. Sofia knew it was a stupid idea but she had to try. As soon as he grasped her hand Sofia’s body tensed. With the last try she squeezed his hand and pushed all the energy he had left into his body. She felt as it drained out and soon the green electricity was running up and down Ivan’s body. He screamed as he struggled to hold on. The man grew weary and tried to push the boy away once m more, except this time he held on. He tried once again, a huge gust of wind bursting near them, yet even then he held on.

“What…” the gas masked man began, but suddenly he saw the electricity. Ivan’s eyes were green with the electricity and his arms were pulsing.

“I said…” he murmured. Suddenly the gas masked man was confused, because the boy seemed to change in front of him, “Get your fucking hands,” he hissed. But he was getting taller too, and wider, “Off,” his gown was useless now, it covered nothing and it was now comparable to the size of a bib because of how he was growing. “MY FRIEND!” He roared. The boy grew and grew until he was easily taller than the 4 floor hospital next to him. The man gaped at Ivan, his silence strong and pregnant with thoughts.

“Alright,” he whispered, “I will,” and with that he disappeared, Sofia falling to the ground with a thud. Ivan smiled before his eyes fluttered, the energy leaving his body, and his body shrunk. Once he was a normal size he could barely stand on his own two feet, Crawlyn ran over to where he and Sofia were; a group of doctors and nurses behind him with two rolling beds and paramedic kits. As soon as they arrived the only thing they heard from the boy was,

“See, I told you I had powers,” before he lost consciousness.


	12. The Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected arrival, but is it for the better or worse?

When Sofia woke up she notice two things; first of all, her she was alive and well and her body felt wonderful. Second, Ivan was in the bed next to her sleeping like a baby, his mouth open and a bit of drool dribbling the pillow beneath him. She smiled, for she could still remember what had happened. She knew Ivan had some kind of power, or rather it was a hunch she had, but she never imagined it would be something so amazing as what he did. He grew! And he had saved her and… her father was alive. Daddy was alive. The man had said so, he knew she would react and so he said that but they hadn’t found a body and it could so easily be true! She never saw him die and suddenly her body was buzzing with energy. She needed to get up and train, get up and get better and go save her father. She could beat that man, she could and nobody could tell her otherwise. 

“Hey, you’re awake,” an unfamiliar voice said. Sofia’s head whipped up and looked at the corner of the room. She had been so distracted by her thoughts she didn’t notice a group of kids about her age sitting on the cluster of chairs there. There were three; a tan and thin boy with very sharp features yet large and soft brown eyes. His hair curly and messy with a dark brown, he wore an orange hoodie and jeans along with some old sneakers. Next to him was a girl with dark skin, but not entirely black. She had straight black hair and large black eyes and a cute and innocent face. She stood there with jeans and a grey corduroy around her slim shoulders. Finally there was the last and most intriguing one of the three; a person perhaps as pale as paper with bright brown eyes and dark brown hair. Their cheekbones were high and their face was thin and triangular, making them look almost aristocratic. The person was in a black pea coat and black skinny jeans along with thick black combat boots that rested carefully on the floor. The most intriguing part of this person was that Sofia had no utter idea if they were a girl or a guy. He/she had a hoarse voice that could either be a low girl’s voice or a high boy’s voice. She couldn’t tell.

“Who are you?” Sofia asked, her eyes running over them and taking in every detail, every scent. The dark skinned girl smiled sweetly,

“We’ve been looking for you and that guy too,” she said, pointing at Ivan still sleeping in the bed next to Sofia.

“What for, and how did you get in?” she asked carefully. The boy spoke this time,

“Well, we actually have a lot to talk about before we answer the first one, but the second one is easy; Crawlyn let us in.” he answered simply. 

“And before you start asking questions about that, let me explain the first one.” The boy/girl said, “We´re all here because Crawlyn recruited us. We all have something to do with Gasman.” Sofia flinched at the sound of that name and almost growled, suddenly something clicked in her head,

“Where is my father,” she asked suddenly. The boy pointed towards the wall,

“He’s in the room next to us, still unconscious though,” he answered. Sofia winced as she tried to sit up further; her body was still healing from the battle. She had a healing factor but those things only went so fast. They know about me. Sofia thought.

“My uncle?”

“He’s currently searching for your… other father, though he had a pretty bad concussion for a bit.” He answered again.

“My aunt Kate,”

“Also searching…” he answered almost silently. They know too much.

“So you all have to do with that horrid man, how so?” Sofia managed to ask as she tried to crawl out of bed carefully,

“Well, we should introduce ourselves first,” the tan girl announced, “I’m Pamela Suarez, and I was one of the babies the Gasman created.” She said with such a wide smile Sofia had a hard time believing she wasn’t somehow happy about it. She looked like she wanted to offer her hand but she stopped herself at such a fast speed Sofia was sure nobody with human reflexes could have seen it. Not normal, probably mutant, she doesn’t trust me, they don’t trust me.

“The name is Matthew Frazer, also one of the kids. We’re both mutants and we were both adopted in South America, she’s Guatemala, I’m Brazil,” the boy announced. They both had sun licked skin, but the girl seemed darker naturally, meanwhile the boy seemed tanner. Suddenly things clicked in her head; of course, they were like her… or at least close. Sofia smiled in recognition of the two teens before turning to the “it” person. Best for last, probably commands the other two, alpha dog of the group. He or she looked up and stared Sofia straight in the eye,

“I’m not one of the babies that got rescued that day. I’m just a kid that wants to avenge their father. My father knew more about that man than anyone on the planet, and that cost him his life and left my mother with two sets of twins and a son to look after. My name is Emmanuel Copper, nice to meet you Sofia Altman-Kaplan.” She said calmly. And once again Sofia didn’t know what to say. The name gave away nothing. It could easily be male or female. Sofia looked up at the with thoughtful eyes. They need me to get to Gasmask, but they probably don’t know how to.

“So what do you need me for?” Sofia asked carefully. Emmanuel chuckled.

“You’re quite slow at stuff aren’t you?” she said. Sofia didn’t answer, she just stared back. “You’re no stranger to the Young Avengers, am I right? You’re parents both being founders of the whole team and whatever.” She said. “I’m sure you can figure the rest out.”

“No,” Sofia answered carefully. “I can’t, and I will explain to you why I can’t. I am the daughter of two incredible super heroes that have saved the multiverse one too many times. I have powers I have trained for years in special programmed systems and arenas. You, for all I know you could be a thousand times better than me, but I don’t know. So before I can decide anything I suggest you get yourself some adult backup and/or show me what you’re made of before attempt to save my Daddy with a group of undertrained mutants.” Sofia explained quickly and swiftly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check on my father.” And with those words she carefully walked towards the door and left. 

If there was something Sofia was amazing at, it was eavesdropping. This proved to be very emotionally heavy when she heard her parents argue about what to do with her and her abilities and life. But it proved to be incredibly useful at times like now. As she walked over to her father’s room she could hear them talking inside.

“Oh man, I didn’t think she would reject it that quickly! We barely even had time to answer back!” Matthew said,

“Emmanuel, I’m not sure we had the best approach plan,” Pamela answered,

“Oh shut it, she’ll come to her senses. We just have to show her we have Crawlyn on our side and show her our abilities.” Emmanuel answered,

“Oh, sure, more like your abilities.” Matthew retorted,

“What do you mean by that?”

“Come on Emmanuel, you’re the only one who has ever trained out of all of us. I got my powers around six and wasn’t allowed to use them and Pam is just as experienced as the unconscious Slavic kid,”

“Hey!” Pam exclaimed,

“Sorry, but it’s true,” Matthew answered. Sofia knew it, they knew just as much as her, or perhaps even less.

Sofia sighed as she pushed the door to the next room and walked in slowly. There he was; her dad, placed carefully on a white bed. His large broadness covered most of it and his body was so still, yet Sofia could see the distress beneath the skin. How his energy pulsed in all the wrong ways, how they stressed around his heart and his head and how it all seemed wrong. He was worried. Even as he slept and rested, he was so very worried. She could remember when she was younger, around 13 years of age, and she woke up in the middle of the night screaming because of a nightmare. The memories of the fire still haunted her, even till that day, and suddenly she felt so very alone. Her Dad came in, Daddy had on a mission with the X-men on the other side of the world, and he held her and asked her why she was screaming. She tried to tell him but her mind blocked in all the wrong places, but he didn’t mind, he still smiled and nodded and told her everything was alright. She loved her parents so much. Why did this happen to them?

She walked over carefully, making sure her weight was well balanced and she didn’t topple onto the floor, and stood by his bed. She placed a small hand on his arm and shook it a bit, in hope that perhaps he would open his blue eyes and smile at her again. But of course, he did not.

“Oh Dad, what am I going to do? How do I get Daddy back? I know he’s alive, he must be, and I miss him so much. I miss you both!” she said with a quivering voice. Suddenly there was a knocking sound at the door. Sofia’s senses shot up and within a second she knew Crawlyn was standing behind the door, along with the three other kids. Sofia sighed; she might as well get this over with. She slowly walked over to the door and opened it. Four pairs of eyes stared at her with concern,

“Let’s go back to my room, we aren’t having this conversation in front of my father.” She answered simply. As soon as they got back, there was a very aware Ivan sitting up in his bed with a confused look on his face.

“Sofia! Oh my god I just had the craziest dream ever! You wouldn’t believe me but I’m sure it’s some kind of sign, I’m telling you! I grew into a giant of some sort and I…” Ivan was silenced by the tired face Sofia made and his realization of the group of people behind her. “What’s going on?” 

“Looks like we have a surprise, not like we were lacking any of those but you know, the more the merrier…” Sofia hissed. She walked over to her bed carefully and sat down with care. Ivan looked like he wanted to ask more questions but Crawlyn spoke first.

“Sofia, we need to speak serious matters,” he announced. Sofia almost snickered, which surprised her, since she was never really the rude kind. 

“I think I know what’s coming,” she said simply. Crawlyn didn’t seem pleased, but all the same he wasn’t surprised.

“Your father is alive, Sofia,”

“Alright,” she said with a small and forced smile,

“And I have brought together a group of kids who all have a correlation with the Gas Masked man so you can work to get your father back since you all have a common goal, capture the enemy.”

“Yes,” Sofia answered, her body showing no obvious signs of her distress but her insides churning with anger,

“They don’t have as much training as you do but I’m sure we can bring them up to level in no time.” He finished. Sofia was silent for a moment, her eyes fixed on Crawlyn’s bright blue orbs. Suddenly she banged her fist against the wall, causing a loud thud that startled everyone. The lights of the room flickered,

“Tell me something I haven’t figured out by now, Crawlyn!” Sofia growled. “My Daddy is in captivity, who knows what horrid tortures he is being put through. My Dad is unconscious and incapable of doing anything until he recovers, and you ask me to put my faith in a group of teenagers when greatest men and women I have ever known have been brought to their knees in a matter of days by a single enemy!” her voice never grew into a yell, it just kept low and threatening and almost like a strong growl. “I know I’m just a teenager too, but to think I don’t understand what is going on is ridiculous. I’m no genius but believe me when I say I understand this just as good as you, or perhaps even more.”

“Sofia,” Crawlyn said suddenly, his voice strong and firm. Sofia let him talk, “I beg of you to listen,” he said softly. Sofia was silent.

“I care for your parents greatly; they have always been good friends of mine. And believe me you don’t know what is going on. Do you have any idea how many search teams there are out there looking for your father?” he asked. Sofia was silent, x-men, Avengers, Maximoffs probably, perhaps a few governments.

“The Avengers, of course, X-men also, the Maximoff’s have gone in their own personal search group and so have many other superhero groups, even the former Runaways are searching. Everyone is trying to help but there is one thing they all have in common.” He said, “They can’t find even a single trace, they don’t even know where to begin.” Sofia nodded, she saw that possibility coming. “The reasons I am creating this separate team is for two reasons, first of all, while the other great ones are out there forcing the Gas Masked man into hiding, we can train and gain strength, the enemy has never seen your powers at its fullest and he hasn’t seen the powers of these kids at all. We would have the element of surprise and also, second reason, the Gas Masked man wants you.” He finished. Sofia twitched,

“Wants me?”

“Yes, not only you, all of the children, this is my theory.”

“What theory, please explain.”

“The GasMask has created you and a vast number of other children too. I believe he has been keeping tabs on you, which would explain the whole “fire” incident and the capturing of your father. Also, I have received calls from various pediatricians across the globe explaining how mutant kids have walked in with the same symptoms you guys had not too long ago and died suddenly. I found that these kids are all from the rescued babies of that year and my guess is that he eliminated the ones that had not shown signs of powers.” He explained in a cold manner. Sofia felt the anger bubbling inside of her, “A few have survived, three to be precise, and two of them are in this room with you. And I have asked all of them to come here.” He finished. “They will be our team, and should arrive tomorrow during the day.”

Sofia was dead silent for various minutes, her brain working with all the information. Everyone waited expectantly when suddenly Ivan interrupted,

“I’m in.” he announced. Sofia looked up at him with curious eyes. “I’m training with you guys. But I want to see my family, even if they aren’t going to approve of this.” He explained. He then turned and stared at Sofia for a moment. “What are you waiting for?” he asked with a smile that Sofia could only classify as mischievous. She closed her eyes for a moment before thinking hard, and a single word came into her head; Daddy. Finally she opened her eyes and looked up with a decisive look,

“I’m in,”

…

 

Teddy woke up in a hospital room, his memory was blurry and his ears were still ringing but in general he felt more rested than he had in a while. He sat up carefully and just as he did a sharp pain rose in his head and he remembered everything. Sofia, where was she. He tried to get out of bed but the dizziness was threatening with making him fall flat on the ground. Suddenly someone came in through the door,

“Theodore! Thank goodness!” Crawlyn said with a smile. Teddy looked up with a confused face, “Now, lay down again, you wouldn’t want to give yourself another deadly concussion.” He ordered. Teddy shook his head and regretted it instantly,

“No,” he groaned, “Where is Sofia?” he asked. Crawlyn smiled,

“She is alive and well, and so is that boy who saved her. But before that I must tell you, you’ve been asleep for a week and a day now.” He said. Teddy was almost sick right there so he slowly lay back down and took a few breaths,

“What has happened?” he asked with a weary voice. Crawlyn helped him down and smiled,

“Well, a lot has happened recently, where would you like to begin?” he asked. Teddy shook his head slightly,

“Where is Sofia?”

“At the moment, in the simulator.”

“What?” Teddy asked incredulously, “Why is she there?”

“Training with a few other younger future heroes; following up in your steps you could say.” He answered simply. Teddy almost got a heart attack,

“What? When did she decide this? I never gave her permission!” he said suddenly, “Is she even fully recovered from what happened and where on earth is that bastard in the Gas Mask!” he was yelling now but he quickly stopped, his head pulsing in pain,

“We don’t know, but here, let me explain it all as I did to her,” he said softly. Teddy closed his eyes and listened, and so Crawlyn began to speak.


	13. The Conflicts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids begin to train, but perhaps Teddy doesn´t completely agree with this plan.

“Weak!” Sofia roared as she burst fist first through the orange colored force field that Matthew had tried to hold up against one of her attacks. He collapsed to the ground and groaned as his fingers began feeling tingly; they had been at this training for hours now. Sofia’s senses sharpened and she turned around to face Pamela who had suddenly snuck up on her. She threw a fist at Sofia and a sonic boom erupted from it. Sofia crossed her arms in front of her as a shield,

“Impulsive.” She said as she absorbed the impact and returned it to Pamela who then flew into the air and fell on her back with a sudden gasp. Suddenly Sofia heard the sound of an energy weapon powering up. She turned and saw as Emmanuel stood not too far from her and held her arm up towards her. Turns out, Emmanuel was an android, half robot and at the moment his/her arm had turned into a massive gun (no she still didn’t know the gender of the strange humanoid). Sofia didn’t think twice before transporting behind Emmanuel just as the gun was shot and made a large hole where she had been standing.

“Slow.” She announced as she shoved the android with her finger, causing it to fall off the large rock where it had been perched. The session ended suddenly and all three kids groaned as they were once again beat up by the alien hybrid.

“Shit…” Matthew murmured,

“You guys are horrid,” Sofia said simply, “You have no planning of attack, you’re slow, and you’re weak, how do you expect to do ANYTHING in a real battle.”

“Shut up Sofia! It’s not like we’ve trained as much as you,” Emmanuel added. Pamela was just silent, thinking about the recent events.

“Alright, swap with the next team,” Sofia announced. The three of them stomped out just as two other kids, including Ivan, walked in.

“Alright Sofia, this is it, this is when we kick your butt.” Ivan called with a determined tone of voice. 

“Yeah… sure,” Nadia answered, her eyes tired. The Kazakh girl had arrived with her parents a few days before and had been nothing but negative since. Sofia had created a sudden friendship with her, since she had magical powers like her Daddy, even though she was by far the less prepared one of the whole group. And so, the simulation began once more and the battle began. Of course, Ivan took no time in growing to a very tall size and trying to crush Sofia. But he was large and sluggish, and she dodged him with little effort,

“Slow!” Sofia yelled as Ivan once again failed to catch her. He tried to reach again and suddenly she looked up and saw Nadia ready to jump on her, her arms filled with electricity. They clashed and Sofia absorbed all of it up, leaving Nadia limp and tired on the ground once more,

“Ineffective,” she answered simply, and within a second she had teleported into the air just as Ivan’s hand whooshed past where she had been standing. 

“Dammit,” he cursed as he looked around, trying to pin point where the alien child had gone. Before he could even turn around Sofia landed on his shoulder and pulsed the electricity Nadia had given her into him. He yelled as his body shook and he shrunk once more. Sofia stood in front of them, her face looking down at them in the same way she had learned from her Daddy,

“Weak,” she whispered. 

“Shut up!” Nadia yelled. Sofia’s eyes widened and Ivan coughed as he caught his breath and looked up in surprise at the Kazakh girl, “You’re not helping, you’re just beating the crap out of us and not teaching us how to use our powers!” Nadia looked like she was going to say something else but before she could continue Sofia had slammed her enormous reptilian foot against the ground and roared. Everyone was silent,

“Do you think anyone taught me how to use my powers? No, nobody did. All I got was meditation lessons and taught how to transport energy. How to turn into an alien? How to absorb energy and let it go in different ways? How to teletransport? That was all me, and the Sorcerer Supreme, my father, is kidnapped right now, unable to teach you anything. Dr. Strange and my grandmother are going to be here in a week to teach you since they have the EXACT same powers as you, and you better be damn thankful. Until then you better try to make some progress on your own.” She hissed. Nadia was silent but continued to stare at her with the same angered eyes.

“And who’s supposed to teach me? Antman or something?” Ivan groaned as he tried to pet down his hair that had frizzed up from the shock. 

“I believe so, I think he is going to be around in two days or so,” Sofia answered. The three kids began walking towards the exit of the simulation arena. Once outside they were greeted by the other three kids, but they all had pale looks on their faces;

“Um, Sofia… Someone’s here to see you,” Pamela said softly. Sofia wants to ask who but he she stops dead in her tracks,

“Sofia,” the voice states; her scales shiver. She knows that tone oh so well, she heard it the day she talked back to her Dad and the day she decided to walk home during a blizzard, that disappointed tone that her father had, she could hear it from miles away.

“Dad,” Sofia answered softly. Her eyes lifted to see Theodore Altman, standing will all his strength and power above everyone else. Even as she was taller than him in her alien form, she felt dwarfed by the look in his eyes.

“We need to speak,” he answered simply. Sofia was hunched now, her body reacting to the glare her father was giving her, “In human form, and now,” he ordered. Sofia took no time to turn back to her human form and walk behind her father, her head hung low as she followed him out. All of the other kids stared with wide eyes,

“Wow, that girl just handed our butts to us on a silver plate, and with a single word her dad has her looking like she’s going to face death or something,” Matthew said thoughtfully. “That’s some respect she has for him,”

“Of course she would, don’t you see?” Emmanuel said while checking the energy levels through the small panel on her forearm, many of it lost during the training session. 

“See what?” Ivan asks, curious suddenly,

“She’s adopted, she’s a UA alien, and even so look at how great she is. If they didn’t support her like crazy she would have never gotten so good. She owes them everything,” Emmanuel stated. Everyone was silent, and in some way this proved they all agreed with the android’s words.

…

“You aren’t joining this,” Teddy stated clearly. Sofia stared up at him with wide eyes, those eyes that were so dear to him since the very start.

“I…”

“No, you aren’t and that is final, we are leaving in a few minutes, get your things.” He said swiftly as he began to walk towards the elevator,

“No, Dad, please listen,”

“Sofia don’t talk back to me,”

“DAD!” She screeched. Her duo pitch cracking into her voice for a moment. Teddy looked down at her, his gaze even more tense than before,

“Sofia,” he warned with a growl, “Don’t you dare…”

“Dare what? Talk back? Does that even matter anymore? You spoke to Crawlyn didn’t you? You’ve been up for 3 hours tops, you still stench of medicine and IV, Crawlyn spoke to you and tried to stop you from coming, I can smell him around you and you,” She said as she stared into her father’s eyes, “are panicking and we need to seriously sit down and talk this through.”

“There is nothing to talk through, Sofia, I was a teen hero once and if there is anything I learned from it is that even if you win sometimes, the things you sacrifice are huge. I will not allow you to go through the same,” he stated simply.

“And what about Daddy? Who´s going to go after him if not us!” she yelled. Teddy´s expression changed. His eyes saddened and suddenly keeping the stern look was twice as hard for him,

“Sofia, there are people working on that, so many people including myself, you don´t have to…”

“Worry about it? How can I NOT worry about it! Look at you!” Teddy felt his stomach churn as Sofia stared at him with blazing angry eyes that were beginning to glow green, she had never talked back more than once, and she had always apologized for doing so immediately after; what was happening? “You’re a mess! You’re acting out of pure anger and fear, you aren’t thinking, you won’t even let me explain what is going on! What is wrong with you?” Sofia looked like she was growing more and more as she spoke; Teddy felt his emotions bubble up inside his stomach. Oh honey, you don’t know, you don’t understand. He felt like saying, but nothing left his mouth. He looked her in the eye, her irises bright and gleaming green with energy pulsing through her in anger. God, she was just like him, she was just like Billy. “It’s like you can’t do anything without Daddy!” 

Sofia regretted the instant those words slipped past her lips. Teddy froze and suddenly he was silent. That had done it. He didn’t move or react, he simply stared at his daughter that now stood in front of him, her fists trembling at her sides and the energy in her eyes fading away. She was just like Billy, how on earth had she caught up on so much from him? She had the same determined and strong look in her eyes, the same pose as she stood tall and elegant, and the same pained way of speaking her feelings out. That and so much more.

“You’re right,” he said softly, his eyes dropping to the ground, his view clouding up with tears, “You’re so right, Sofia, you’re so very right,” he said, his voice cracking towards the end. Teddy let himself lean against the wall nearest to him and buried his hand in his right hand. Sofia could feel the regret filling her, how dare she do this to him?

“No Dad, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean in that way. I’m just tired and angry but I know that’s no excuse but please, Dad, no, look at me,” she tried saying as reached up and took her father’s head out of his right hand to look into watery blue eyes, “Don’t cry Dad,” she whispered. Teddy almost laughed at how many similarities he was suddenly finding between Billy and their daughter, but instead he shook his head.

“I’m nothing without him,” he whispered. Sofia looked like she was about to cry too, which was something Teddy had never seen and didn’t want to see now. He hugged her and she buried her face into his broad chest. He let himself slide down to the ground and cupped her up in his large arms as he had when she was just a baby. He could still pick her up, she was so small in her human form. She leaned against him and said nothing, simply lying there and letting her father understand that she was so very sorry. But he knew it was true. There was silence in the white hallway, nothing but the sound of machinery far away and their own heart beats echoing in their ears. Teddy could hear her small heart, pumping twice as much blood twice as fast; 8 ventricles in a single organ. She was so special, she was born to be that way, and there was no way he was going to take away the only thing Sofia could take for granted in her life; the fact that she was destined to be a hero.

“Sofia,” he said softly, still holding her close to him. She didn’t answer, but he knew he could continue to speak, “I know, that maybe Daddy isn’t here to be with us and help us out, and that I’ve doing a pretty shitty job as a Dad, but…” Sofia looked up at him, her eyes suddenly tired but paying attention nonetheless, “I once promised that even if Daddy wasn’t around, I would stay with you and do everything I could for you. And I’ll keep my promise.” He finished. Sofia smiled and hugged her father strongly. After a few seconds they stood up and decided they should probably go back to the team, but not before Sofia explained everything about the team to her father, and so they walked back to the common area to sit and speak, daughter to father.


	14. The Aliens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After things are solved between Sofia and Teddy, it looks like Crawlyn may have invited more people than he claimed.

“Do you think they’re doing alright?” Emmanuel asked. Nadia shrugged,  
“Dunno, for all we know we’re stuck here and the strongest person in our team just got grounded.” She deadpanned.   
“Hey! Leave her alone, you know she’s been trying to help us get stronger. Have some respect,” Matthew answered,  
“Respect for what, her ability to beat us up?” Pamela murmured. Emmanuel shot her a look and Pamela sighed, “I know, you’re right, it’s just… she’s right! We suck!”   
There was a silence, all of them acknowledging the fact that truly, they could do nothing right now.   
“She’s a great girl, we should be thankful she’s helping us.” Ivan said suddenly. Before anyone could answer, an alarm went off. The kids stiffened and exchanged scared glances.  
“Do you think…?” Ivan began,  
“Him?” Matthew answered,  
“No… it can’t.” Emmanuel stated. But even so all five of them ran towards the main hall where they collided with the Kaplan-Altman.   
“What’s going on?” Pamela yelled. Both Sofia and Teddy had a similar worried yet determined look on their faces.  
“Intruder,” they both answered, and hurried towards the East side of the facility.  
“Damn, you can tell he raised her,” Matthew said as the kids ran after the two family members. After running through a few halls and being joined by various armed staff members from the mutant army they burst into the side of the facility which was the main computer. Everyone gasped as they came face to face with a small Kree spacecraft. It seemed to be beaten up thoroughly, and it was almost as if it had crashed into the floor of the room. But on the other hand… the walls and ceiling were intact; it was as if it had just popped into the air.  
“Someone get Noh-Var,” Teddy ordered as a few people approached the strange spacecraft, being aware of the defense system that the Kree were capable of.   
“It teletransported here,” Sofia whispered. Suddenly Crawlyn burst into the room,  
“Wait! I think they’re our allies! Don’t shoot!” he cried, hurrying as fast as he could towards the ship. He stopped and gulped air in, being currently out of shape, and then proceeded to speak.  
“You have arrived to safety! Please come out so we can greet you!” Crawlyn yelled to the ship apparently.  
“How do you feel about this?”Teddy whispered to his daughter,  
“Nothing bad so far, just weird,” She whispered back, her danger instinct not kicking in. Suddenly, there was the sound of air pressure being released. Everyone backed off as the entrance of the pod opened slowly and steadily, letting steam out as it did. The door lowered until it was touching the ground, and suddenly two figures appeared from the steam. Now, it was obvious that everyone was expecting a Kree or two to walk out of that Kree spaceship. And they were right, to a degree, except for the fact that the second being wasn’t Kree at all. Gasps were heard across the room as the steam parted to show a lean and strong young Kree and what seemed to be a doll made out of the sky. He wasn’t too tall, but he stood taller than everyone there. His body was that of a human boy around the age of 18, but what was strange about this boy was his skin. Well, not only that, but his everything! He looked like he had been cut out of the sky. His body was a dark swirling blue covered in stars, as if he was made of the universe itself. Stars and swirling lights traveled his skin in slow motion and his eyes looked like they were made of the moon’s light. No pupil, just silvery white. The Kree boy cleared his throat, his skin a light blue and his hair snow white color,   
“We… come look… Crawliene,” he tried to pronounce with little success. His accent was thick, but everyone understood what he was saying.  
“Lo-Voi? Is that your name?” Crawlyn asked carefully. The boy nodded, then motioned to the galactic being next to him,  
“My friend,” he managed to pronounce. Crawlyn nodded enthusiastically when suddenly Noh-Var burst into the room. There was a visible tension as the two Krees looked at each other. Noh-Var wasn’t fond of Krees, and the Krees weren’t fond of Noh-Var, but even so the younger alien bowed in respect. Noh-Var did not bow, but he nodded, acknowledging the other’s respect. They began speaking in Kree, first hesitantly, but eventually more openly. When they finished speaking, Noh-Var turned towards Teddy,  
“He says he is here to avenge his adoptive sister, who was given to his family as one of the babies that were saved here and died a few months back. He knows it wasn’t from natural reasons and he wants revenge. The galactic being next to him is here for the same reason. His brother was is deadly ill, and he knows he won’t last long unless he gets answers from the villain who created him. He says the brother probably has six human months at most to live.” He explained. Sofia stared at the cosmic being, her eyes never leaving him. He was the most beautiful entity she had ever seen. In a way he reminded her of the suit her daddy had worn when he fought mother. Crawlyn told the Kree soldier to tell the two young beings that they understood and that they were already training to be able to attack the Gas Mask. He explained the team they had so far, as soon as Noh translated this the two beings looked at the group of teenagers that stood nearby. Lo asked something and Noh translated quickly to,  
“What can they do?” Crawlyn smiled,  
“How about we show you?” he offered. Emanuel stepped forward before anyone else. Emmanuel’s pale white skin morphed into a gelatinous yet transparent skin and revealed the copper based skeleton that lay beneath the surface. Her/his eyes glowed a deep red and her/his iris turned black. Her/his hair also died an inky black and the gears turned until her/his arm morphed into a massive gun. The entities stared at the humanoid with impressed eyes and spoke to each other in small whispers. The Kree spoke up once more and Noh said something in return, when asked about what he said he answered,  
“He said what about the others and I said they are all very gifted but are all in need of training. Except Sofia, of course, she seems pretty well prepared,” Noh mentioned as he looked at the young girl standing almost behind her tall and broad father. The two creatures looked at her with curious looks, but she did not respond. She did not morph or even move, she just stared into their eyes with strong intensity. They looked away after a moment, a bit shaken by her glare, and continued to speak with Noh.   
After a long conversation of translating on behalf of Noh-Var, the two beings left the pod and were taken to a room where they would live from then on.  
“Man, this has been an eventful day, I can’t wait for dinner,” Ivan said with a sigh,  
“What do you mean dinner?” Sofia asked as they walked out of the computer room that was now being fixed.   
“You know, the thing after lunch, you eat during that time, sounds familiar?” Emmanuel added. Sofia chuckled,  
“Do you guys really think we’re done training?” She said with a small smile. Everyone went pale suddenly,  
“What?” Nadia managed to ask. Suddenly there was a large and heavy hand placed on Sofia’s arm,  
“Now Sofia, it’s late, they deserve some rest from the dreaded simulation room.” Teddy said. All the kids sighed in unison and Sofia gave her father a confused look, he smiled, “But, that doesn’t mean the day is done. I’m going to be training all of you from now on, and the first rule is that every day after dinner we hit the research room and get you all to do some research on your powers. I don’t care how boring it is you better go read some good stuff at train your minds as well.” He said. All the kids groaned in unison once more, but Sofia smiled back at her father. They walked towards the dining room to the sound of a group of teenage kids complaining. 

…

“Oh God can we just go to the simulation room?” Ivan asked as he plopped his head into the file he was reading about growth mutations and sunk in his seat.   
“Nice try, might want to learn how to move fast before Sofia electrocutes your ass again.” Emmanuel added as she finished her 10th file of the day about copper wiring and propelled energy transmission. Ivan groaned out loud and rolled around in his wheelie chair,  
“Come on, it’s not that bad you know? There’s a lot of things we can learn here.” Matthew added as he searched through the files searching for Karma and hoping to find some information on shape holding.   
“I thought you liked learning?” Pamela added as she sighed and plopped another sonic waves file down in disappointment, “At least you have files all about you, nobody wrote about how to use sonic boom as anything other than breaking windows.”   
“Yeah sure, look, I don’t even know if what makes Antman grow is what I have ok? For all I know I’m like a giant that got turned into a human or something.” Ivan retorted.   
“Well, I don’t know about you guys but I am currently the happiest person alive.” Nadia announced as she read through one of the thousands of files she had found on Warlocks and magic.   
“I’m glad most of you are enjoying yourselves,” Sofia announced as she took notes on a file about Night-Crawler’s transporting methods. “I have yet to discover if I’m just a really cool alien that just teletransports on command or if I travel dimensions or something.”   
“You’re a really cool alien, period.” Emmanuel answered. There was silence as everyone resumed their own studies when suddenly Teddy walked in.  
“Alright how are you all feeling?” he asked as he walked over and kissed the top of Sofia’s curly brown haired head. A general answer of “good” and “normal” came back to him and he smiled. “Alright, I think you should all go rest because tomorrow 6 am you are all going to be dressed and in the gym because we have lot’s to work on.” He announced. Another chorus of groans followed.  
“Well, at least I can go to sleep now,” Ivan murmured. Everyone began to file out when Teddy noticed Sofia still reading.  
“Aren’t you going to join your new friends?” he asked. She shrugged,  
“I thought I was going to share a room with you?” she asked. He sighed,  
“Well, honey, as much as I think it’s a good idea, I also think it’s not. You should be a leader to them, if they’re going to be sharing rooms you might as well go and be part of the group. It’s important that you all feel equal in a team.” He said simply. Sofia nodded and understood. She stood up and with her morphed alien feet grew to a height where she could kiss her father on the cheek.   
“Goodnight dad, sleep well ok?” she said with a smile.  
“You too, oh, and no mixing girls with boys!” he called to her as she ran off after her friends. Teddy sighed and for a moment felt emptiness inside. But no, he had to let her go for now, after all, he had to be a good father. He had to be a good father not only for her, but for Billy too. 

…

Teddy stripped from his tight battle clothes and sighed as he was finally able to be nothing but himself. Not a hero, not a leader, not a highly trained Prince of two Alien nations. Just Teddy, the caring husband of Billy Kaplan-Altman and father of Sofia Kaplan-Altman, and neither of them was with him at that moment. He had abandoned the apartment, since it had been destroyed anyway, and had come to live within the facility underground. He rubbed his face with his hands and headed to the bathroom where he could take a good shower and perhaps forget the huge mess that was his life. Well, it wasn’t REALLY a mess. At least he knew where his daughter was, and they actually had a plan to find Billy. But they had to hurry. So as Teddy stood in the shower, scrubbing his skin from all impurities, he thought solely of the best way to train the group of kids he would meet in the morning.

…

“You’re joining us for the night then?” Pamela asked with a smile. Sofia nodded,  
“Yeah, so I guess I’ll be rooming with you girls,” she said calmly. They walked for a bit until they reached the hallway interception in which the boys and girls had to separate. Everyone said goodnight and both genders headed their respective ways. But just five seconds after they had separated Sofia froze. The girls turned around to look at her with confused looks,  
“Sofia? What’s wrong?” Nadia asked. Sofia looked up and gaped for a moment before she resumed walking with them,  
“Nothing,” she murmured with a small smile. Perhaps for the other girls it wasn’t a big deal, but for Sofia it was, because Emmanuel was walking with them, and that meant she wasn’t a boy.


End file.
